Android Tablet

[Kent Borg]

Mark Woodward wrote:
> Anyway, does anyone have any experience with any of the android tablets
> out there? 
[...]
> Linux Access - I have to be able to get below the Android front to run
> ssh and stuff.
> full Linux tool set - Whether I have to put it on an SD card or what
> ever, I want to be able to use the standard Linux tools.

I have been wondering about similar things.

I have an Android phone (Nexus One) that works well, runs stock 
software, has legitimate tethering. I figure I will get an Android 
tablet once the OS tablet support stabilizes and the Xoom-premium starts 
to fall away.

Were I to buy right now, I expect I would get a Nook Color and root it. 
But I already notice that my phone's CPU can't always keep up with what 
I want it to do, so I suspect the slower Nook Color would always be too 
slow. I think I want a Xoom-caliber tablet, so I think I wait. I am also 
intrigued by the idea of a new rumored Android Kindle tablet with a 
reflective color screen. Maybe available late in the year...??

And I start to wonder about what software I might run on my phone and 
tablet once I have a tablet. I am fearing that even if I buy a 
non-subsidized tablet that I own, there won't be a stable way to both 
have a machine that I control (have root) and one that can run the 
Market app, install the NY Times Android tablet app once there is one, 
run the Kindle app, etc. Google is going to squeeze the alternate 
general purpose OS installations out of existence: There is collision 
between DRM interests and the machine's buyer having root. They will 
take away root--or take away a whole lot of cool applications from 
anyone who has root. Maybe there will still be access to evolving 
Android OS sources, but key software will check digital signatures and 
not talk to any hardware not pwned by a major corporation.

Maybe when I buy a new phone because I have to have some feature, if my 
Nexus One still works, I root the Nexus One, install what I can, and 
have that be my pocket Linux machine. It won't have all the IO you list, 
but it will be mine. (Mine!)

I could use the tablet as a big screen terminal. For password-safe use 
where I don't trust the pwnership and keylogging features of the tablet, 
I could still use my personal phone's screen. And I expect I will still 
have a notebook computer with me frequently, it will have IO, and it 
could talk to my personal phone, too. (I still don't know how the daily 
baggage decisions work with a phone, tablet, and notebook.)


-kb, the Kent whose ancient REI padded eyeglass belt holster is big 
enough for a stack of two Nexus One-sized phones.



P.S. Even without root, I can ssh into my phone (though not on port 22), 
I can ssh out, I can run Python. I can do stuff...