usbc solved a lot of the connector issues, so long as you can get a hub to play nice with Linux drivers.
Comment on Your old android phone is begging to be a cheap home server!
solrize@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Um no, phones are terrible for that. My old phone in particular is a PITA to even keep powered, because of its flaky micro USB connector. Then we get to the lack of Ethernet, the difficulty of remote reboot, and the Android OS even with termux. It’s .much better to scrounge an old PC or raspy pi or the like.
Cooper8@feddit.online 5 weeks ago
solrize@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Well my old phone is micro USB for now. Someday my new phone will become an old phone and I can revisit the scheme. It has USB-C.
Anivia@feddit.org 5 weeks ago
So you’ve only had 2 phones in the last 10 years? Impressive
solrize@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
I got my current phone in 2023 and the one before that in 2017. The 2017 one was my first android phone. The previous couple were Maemo, which tbh would be better for servers.
Cooper8@feddit.online 5 weeks ago
Yes, I’m just pointing out that phones aren’t terrible at acting as servers, it’s a generational issue.
I’m definitely going to give this a try when I replace my current phone next year.
solrize@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Sounds pretty terrible to me.
HelloRoot@lemy.lol 5 weeks ago
my 2 old phones were both replaced because of hardware issues.
one has a broken power button that is constantly randomly spam pressed, so as soon as it gets power if it ever manages to boot it either reboots itself or tries to call emergency services.
the other has a flaky usb c that constantly connects and disconnects unless you hold it at a specific angle and the battery is like a minute away from meltdown - it can hold charge for a couple minutes.
I’d be afraid to leave either plugged in.
I guess the article is for people that buy a new phone yearly out of fashion, not need.
F04118F@feddit.nl 5 weeks ago
Old PCs are plenty powerful and compatible with everything, but if energy consumption is a major concern, an old phone can work too.
You are 100% right that Android is a very weird Linux and Termux is limited.
PostmarketOS is a project that enables installation of a full upstream Linux onto old phones. Then you can run whatever (ARM-supporting) distro you like on it, without weird kernel limitations.