Ask Slashdot: Scripting-Friendly Smartphones?

An anonymous reader writes "I am choosing a smartphone for work, moving up from a long history of just-a-phone phones. This coincides with moving into an environment where I will have a desktop machine in my office, rather using my laptop — so I'll VPN in from home, and am looking forward to not trucking my laptop around everywhere. BUT ... this means I now won't have my laptop all the time. I have gotten used to scripting various little things that make my life easier, and would like to carry that over to the phone. For example, periodically check that a certain machine is online and backing things up the way it is supposed to; if the lab monitoring system sends me an email that the -80 freezer is up to -50, play a sound and run the vibrate system in a specific, arbitrarily chosen pattern; when I press this button, record an MP3, when I release it prep an email with it attached, that sort of thing. Does such a beast exist? Has anyone used one and if so what do you think? Bonus points if you know if I can use it with Rogers (Canadian wireless provider used by my workplace)." I've heard good things about (but never used) the payware Android app called Tasker; what other recommendations do you have for running the world from a smartphone?

Comments

Just root it and use SL4A

[Anonymous Coward]

Any android phone that can be rooted + SL4A.

Your choices are...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nokia n900 would be my first choice for reasons that are obvious.

HTC HD2 would be my second choice. Laugh if you must, but the interface HTC slapped over WM 6.5 makes it halfway decent and the APIs are open for pretty much anything you want to put on it.

Re:Your choices are...

[RobbieThe1st]

It's as you said: Nokia N900, hands down.
You get:
1. Fully unlocked phone, unlocked bootloader and real Linux.
2. Loads of "hacker" tools and apps.
3. Busybox ash(stock) or full Bash if you want.
4. The phone part is fully scriptable with dbus commands. There's even a dbus monitor daemon to run a script when a certain dbus signal is sent.
5. Hardware keyboard, decent specs(CPU's a bit weak, but greatly overclockable), and good screen.
6. Debian Chroot gives full LXDE system right on your phone if you need it.
7. Real web-browser functionality: tablet-friendly stock microB(FF based, renders like FF 3), Firefox Mobile, Chromium(desktop version basically), Opera

Really, it seems to be the only option.
The N9 might also be doable, but there you have to enable developer mode, and have no hardware keyboard, screen's poorer(AMOLED vs LCD), and it's just more hassle.

Android Scriptin

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget about sl4a, it's still a legitimate project.

Re:Android Scriptin

[bjwest]

Don't know who the dumb fuck was going through modding all these posts down, but (s)he needs to have their head smacked.

This is what I was going to suggest. Using sl4a allows the use of Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell. That pretty much covers all the good scripting languages except Rexx, and I haven't heard much about Rexx in years.

Of course, if you stop and think about it, Android's entire API is a scripting language, so...

Re:Android Scriptin

[timothyb89]

For added fun, Tasker has SL4A integration, so you can have Tasker run arbitrary scripts when various events occur. SL4A also lets you (in addition to its own APIs) lets you install, e.g., additional python modules, and the Java-interpreted scripting languages (BeanShell, Rhino, and probably JRuby) let you directly invoke the Android APIs. The latest Tasker release also has JavaScript support and exposes more device functionality to it than SL4A's APIs do.

I'm not really sure what all of the hate for device scripting is about, Android is surprisingly scripting-friendly, and it actually has some viable end results.

Re:Android Scriptin

[jones_supa]

Don't know who the dumb fuck was going through modding all these posts down, but (s)he needs to have their head smacked.

As I noted yesterday, there seems to be some malicious modding going on here.

Android Scripting Environment

[Cramit]

Android Scripting Environment is a layer that allows various scripting languages interact with the Android API. It supports a bunch of languages and allows for a decent level of control over the Android device. http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/

Re:IFTTT is your friend.

[wintersdark]

Unfortunately, I can't remember how to edit a post. Excuse my ignorance, I don't post often.

Anyways, check this IFTTT.com recipe out: http://ifttt.com/recipes/46081 - it searches a gmail account, and sends results as SMS messages to your mobile number.

So, you set it to search for From:yourworkaddress or Subject:FreezeTemp or what have you, and poof! Whenever your freezer is getting toasty, you get SMS messages.

Re:N9 or N900 -- full *nix

[oik]

Seconded. I have both phones now and have moved to having the N9 as my phone and the N900 just be my pocket/travel *nix box. I've not (touch wood) seen any problems with the USB port but it's something which is a known issue. The N900, while not perfect, is a damn good little machine.

Re:Nokia N900 no contest

[hobarrera]

AC is quite right (I came to point out the exact same phone actually).
Another great point is the hardware keyboard; it's really a paint to attempt to script or code or use ssh on a touchscreen-keyboard.

The OS is not just a Linux kernel with new stuff strapped on; it's a descendant of Debian GNU/Linux inside, so unless you're a windows user, you won't have any issues hacking from this phone.

Re:An inherent limitation of the form factor?

[gmuslera]

Some soft keyboards have transparency, so can take most of the screen while you keep seeing what is below. And some have hard keyboards, some of them pretty good, or can use a bluetooth keyboard. The N900 is more a pocket computer than a cellphone, but could do work for what is needed (and was script friendly too)

Re:An inherent limitation of the form factor?

[Tough Love]

I think you're a little confused as to what "on-call" actually means. It is not regular work. You don't handle tickets, respond to emails or any of that. On-call is for emergencies, and it is typcially uncompensated. Your job is to respond if called. Otherwise you can do what you want. You are not by any means expected to stay sitting in your room hanging onto a laptop. Or if you are and you're not getting paid straight time for it, it's time to freshen up your resume.

Now that you understand what on-call is, if all you need to do is reset somebody's password or similar "emergency" and you can do that from your phone, then just do it and get on with life. Of course if you prefer to drive into the office instead then feel free.

Re:An inherent limitation of the form factor?

[AliasMarlowe]

I think you're a little confused as to what "on-call" actually means ... it is typcially uncompensated. Your job is to respond if called. Otherwise you can do what you want.

This must be some new meaning for "on call" with which I am unfamiliar. We pay our people to be on-call for specific off-hours periods, and that pay is by the on-call hour and in addition to their base salary. If they are actually called on, then they get yet another additional payment, depending on how long it took to address the issue. Those eligible for on-call duty are also free to decline any or all on-call duty, if they wish. We expect our people to remain sober and capable when on-call, even if they are attending social events such as parties. This has a price, as it should.

Which industry/country do you work in, where on-call time is free (and possibly compulsory and/or unlimited)?

Re:An inherent limitation of the form factor?

[RabidReindeer]

Which industry/country do you work in, where on-call time is free (and possibly compulsory and/or unlimited)?

The United States of America. Pick an industry - it probably applies.