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Maru OS Exits Private Beta, Lets You Use an Android Phone As a Linux Desktop (liliputing.com)

Posted by msmash on from the rekindling-your-old-device dept.

Maru OS has exited beta, and is now available to anyone who wants to give it a try. For those unaware, Maru OS offers a platform that runs Android as well as Debian Linux on a smartphone. When you connect a Maru OS-powered smartphone to an external display, you get "full-fledged Linux desktop environment." Maru OS was unveiled in February, and currently supports only one smartphone: Nexus 5. The developers behind it have also started to work on making the project open source. They hope that doing this will help them support other devices as well. Brad Linger, writes for Liliputing: Work has also begun on making Maru OS an open source project, which could allow additional developers to contribute to the project or port it to run on other phones, although the current version of the Maru OS does require phones that support HDMI via MHL or SlimPort, which means not all phones will be able to run the software unless wireless display support is added in the future.

3 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Motorola Atrix Webtop by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 3, Informative

    This seems familiar. I had the original Motorola Atrix 4G, and when it was placed in a dock with an HDMI output (or the laptop dock that included a screen) it booted a Linux environment that was also based on Debian. It was very limited in what applications could be run.

  2. Re:is 2016 the year? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is the year of my unused Android phone sitting on my desktop.

  3. Er, What? How about ALL OF THEM? by brunes69 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Is there a single use case where this ISN'T useful?

    Talk to any sales person or executive who is on the road 4 days a week 52 days a year. Talk to any average person with a phone who has to work on a big spreadsheet once a year (tax time). Talk to anyone who has ever tried to do detailed photo manipulation on an iPad or phone.

    This is the future. The idea that you are going to have BOTH a phone AND a PC is a dated concept... your phone IS A PC, it just has a tiny screen and no good input device. The ability to take a phone, dock it and get a full desktop experience will all of your files still available, is the nirvana pretty much anyone who is not a hardcore developer or gamer is waiting for.