Running GNU/Linux on a tablet, as of November 2018 [on hold]
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What is the state-of-the-art as regards Linux distributions and tablets (tablet-computers)? If that matters, I'm specifically thinking about 7in-10in "true" tablets, not hybrid laptops with touchscreen and detachable keyboard.
I've searched the web for several days (including this very site). I found much information, but:
all of it is either obsolete, or so old that it's probably not relevant anymore. Example: the Ubuntu wiki still has pages about Ubuntu Touch, which has been abandoned by Canonical; I went to https://ubuntu-touch.io and https://ubports.com , but all pages are missing a date, and the FAQ refers to "16.04" as a future release whereas it seems to be released already.
I found contradicting evidence: some people say tablets are closer to smartphones than to laptops, especially as regards proprietary drivers for the tablet peripherals; others say that x86-powered tablets can run GNU/Linux just like laptops do.
As an example I've skimmed through the openSUSE website and couldn't determine whether the current version is installable on a tablet, or under what conditions (regarding the tablet hardware).
All this leads me to the conclusion that running GNU/Linux on a tablet is, at the time of this writing, either very delicate (but then, why so few up-to-date questions or pages on this subject?) or very straightforward (but then, why no mention at all of such an install on e.g. the openSUSE website?). Or I'm disabled as far as web searching is concerned...
P.S.: I couldn't even find a relevant tag here. "tablet" refers to graphical tablets (digitizers), "tablet computer" doesn't exist, "smartphone" isn't really relevant, "phablet" & "hybrid computer" wouldn't be if they existed...
distribution-choice tablet-computer
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
put on hold as primarily opinion-based by Rui F Ribeiro, Romeo Ninov, thrig, sam, muru 1 hour ago
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
What is the state-of-the-art as regards Linux distributions and tablets (tablet-computers)? If that matters, I'm specifically thinking about 7in-10in "true" tablets, not hybrid laptops with touchscreen and detachable keyboard.
I've searched the web for several days (including this very site). I found much information, but:
all of it is either obsolete, or so old that it's probably not relevant anymore. Example: the Ubuntu wiki still has pages about Ubuntu Touch, which has been abandoned by Canonical; I went to https://ubuntu-touch.io and https://ubports.com , but all pages are missing a date, and the FAQ refers to "16.04" as a future release whereas it seems to be released already.
I found contradicting evidence: some people say tablets are closer to smartphones than to laptops, especially as regards proprietary drivers for the tablet peripherals; others say that x86-powered tablets can run GNU/Linux just like laptops do.
As an example I've skimmed through the openSUSE website and couldn't determine whether the current version is installable on a tablet, or under what conditions (regarding the tablet hardware).
All this leads me to the conclusion that running GNU/Linux on a tablet is, at the time of this writing, either very delicate (but then, why so few up-to-date questions or pages on this subject?) or very straightforward (but then, why no mention at all of such an install on e.g. the openSUSE website?). Or I'm disabled as far as web searching is concerned...
P.S.: I couldn't even find a relevant tag here. "tablet" refers to graphical tablets (digitizers), "tablet computer" doesn't exist, "smartphone" isn't really relevant, "phablet" & "hybrid computer" wouldn't be if they existed...
distribution-choice tablet-computer
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
put on hold as primarily opinion-based by Rui F Ribeiro, Romeo Ninov, thrig, sam, muru 1 hour ago
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
What is the state-of-the-art as regards Linux distributions and tablets (tablet-computers)? If that matters, I'm specifically thinking about 7in-10in "true" tablets, not hybrid laptops with touchscreen and detachable keyboard.
I've searched the web for several days (including this very site). I found much information, but:
all of it is either obsolete, or so old that it's probably not relevant anymore. Example: the Ubuntu wiki still has pages about Ubuntu Touch, which has been abandoned by Canonical; I went to https://ubuntu-touch.io and https://ubports.com , but all pages are missing a date, and the FAQ refers to "16.04" as a future release whereas it seems to be released already.
I found contradicting evidence: some people say tablets are closer to smartphones than to laptops, especially as regards proprietary drivers for the tablet peripherals; others say that x86-powered tablets can run GNU/Linux just like laptops do.
As an example I've skimmed through the openSUSE website and couldn't determine whether the current version is installable on a tablet, or under what conditions (regarding the tablet hardware).
All this leads me to the conclusion that running GNU/Linux on a tablet is, at the time of this writing, either very delicate (but then, why so few up-to-date questions or pages on this subject?) or very straightforward (but then, why no mention at all of such an install on e.g. the openSUSE website?). Or I'm disabled as far as web searching is concerned...
P.S.: I couldn't even find a relevant tag here. "tablet" refers to graphical tablets (digitizers), "tablet computer" doesn't exist, "smartphone" isn't really relevant, "phablet" & "hybrid computer" wouldn't be if they existed...
distribution-choice tablet-computer
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
What is the state-of-the-art as regards Linux distributions and tablets (tablet-computers)? If that matters, I'm specifically thinking about 7in-10in "true" tablets, not hybrid laptops with touchscreen and detachable keyboard.
I've searched the web for several days (including this very site). I found much information, but:
all of it is either obsolete, or so old that it's probably not relevant anymore. Example: the Ubuntu wiki still has pages about Ubuntu Touch, which has been abandoned by Canonical; I went to https://ubuntu-touch.io and https://ubports.com , but all pages are missing a date, and the FAQ refers to "16.04" as a future release whereas it seems to be released already.
I found contradicting evidence: some people say tablets are closer to smartphones than to laptops, especially as regards proprietary drivers for the tablet peripherals; others say that x86-powered tablets can run GNU/Linux just like laptops do.
As an example I've skimmed through the openSUSE website and couldn't determine whether the current version is installable on a tablet, or under what conditions (regarding the tablet hardware).
All this leads me to the conclusion that running GNU/Linux on a tablet is, at the time of this writing, either very delicate (but then, why so few up-to-date questions or pages on this subject?) or very straightforward (but then, why no mention at all of such an install on e.g. the openSUSE website?). Or I'm disabled as far as web searching is concerned...
P.S.: I couldn't even find a relevant tag here. "tablet" refers to graphical tablets (digitizers), "tablet computer" doesn't exist, "smartphone" isn't really relevant, "phablet" & "hybrid computer" wouldn't be if they existed...
distribution-choice tablet-computer
distribution-choice tablet-computer
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
edited 2 days ago
ctrl-alt-delor
10.1k31954
10.1k31954
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
asked 2 days ago
L. Levrel
1,112310
1,112310
put on hold as primarily opinion-based by Rui F Ribeiro, Romeo Ninov, thrig, sam, muru 1 hour ago
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
put on hold as primarily opinion-based by Rui F Ribeiro, Romeo Ninov, thrig, sam, muru 1 hour ago
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
It would be better if you could clarify more your question. Usually tablets have ARM processor so any GNU/Linux for ARM architecture can work nice.
My suggestions:
- https://archlinuxarm.org/
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
- https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
It would be better if you could clarify more your question. Usually tablets have ARM processor so any GNU/Linux for ARM architecture can work nice.
My suggestions:
- https://archlinuxarm.org/
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
- https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
It would be better if you could clarify more your question. Usually tablets have ARM processor so any GNU/Linux for ARM architecture can work nice.
My suggestions:
- https://archlinuxarm.org/
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
- https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
It would be better if you could clarify more your question. Usually tablets have ARM processor so any GNU/Linux for ARM architecture can work nice.
My suggestions:
- https://archlinuxarm.org/
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
- https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
It would be better if you could clarify more your question. Usually tablets have ARM processor so any GNU/Linux for ARM architecture can work nice.
My suggestions:
- https://archlinuxarm.org/
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
- https://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
answered yesterday
Spoiler
114
114
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(1/2) I will clarify with pleasure, can you tell me what's not clear? About your answer: "usually tablets have ARM processor" is a bit vague, and supporting a processor is not enough to make a device work AFAIK. Thank you for your links, but they don't clear up my doubts. Link 2 : "We don't directly support devices such as phones and tablets but it's not to say that without the required kernel/bootloader know how that they don't work, it's just not our primary focus." (emphasis mine) Link 3 : "includes support for the very latest ARM-based server systems"
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
(2/2) Link 1 lists supported boards. It's not immediately clear if/which tablets are supported. I saw a Snapdragon-based board, and such processors seem to be rather frequent on tablets, but that's all I can tell. The only well-known devices I've found in the list are the Samsung Chromebooks, but they're computers, not tablets.
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago
add a comment |
I see 4 votes to close my question. Voters are welcome to comment here to explain why. I could improve it maybe. I know my question is very open and calls for a long answer, but, well, not all Q&A are one-liners!
– L. Levrel
5 hours ago