Gadgetory

the word convergence describes the general trend for technology to become smaller and more functional we can see this in the various new form factors that bridge the gap between laptops and tablets I'm a huge fan of convergence because to me it means freedom as a writer having an ultra mobile computer means I can work from anywhere and without having to carry a heavy bag filled with wires and adapters while phones appear to be getting bigger rather than smaller that's because they're packing in more functionality now than ever before and replacing our larger devices the first phablet literally put the tablet in our pocket and as phones become more and more powerful they're gradually starting replaced our computers as well the ultimate realization of this can be seen in initiatives like Microsoft continuum and Samsung debts if you want a full desktop productivity environment on your phone though we're still a little way off multi screen multitasking solutions on Android leave something to be desired and the best place to work is still a desktop or laptop computer or is it believe it or not it is actually possible to get a fully functional version of desktop Ubuntu up and running on your phone as long as you've got an Android and you've got root I'm a Domitian it's key stay tuned and I'll show you how I got this to work yes this really is full desktop Ubuntu running on a galaxy s6 edge+ it's running in truth and you can do everything it can do on a PC including installing new applications for the terminal you can even choose from a variety of different distributions flavors and desktops so how do you get this on your own device as mentioned you'll need to start out by rooting your device the process is slightly different depending on what phone you're using and your version of Android but if you've got a common brand then you should be able to find easy instructions online and it's normally a fairly quick and painless process once that's done you'll need to install three different apps these are Linux deployed busybox and VNC viewer each of these can be found on the Play Store so busybox gives your phone access to linux commands that otherwise wouldn't have and it's required for a number of route apps to work once you install it though you don't need to worry about it again instead open up the Linux deploy and make sure it has root access now hit the small download button on the top or bottom right of the screen this will bring you to the options menu and most of the settings in here can be lessons they are but this is where you'll select your Linux distribution everything is here from Debian and Ubuntu to Kali Linux gen to fedora and more picking this week will change the flavor of Linux you can try them all or you can do a little research and choosers every one you like the looks of mates down the bottom you can also choose which desktop environment you'd like which will change the look and feel of the app click enable and the GUI to ensure you have a graphical interface to work with and check out the GUI settings just below that change things like the resolution for my galaxy s6 edge+ I find that 1024 by 576 works best you can toy around with this later set your user names of routes to give yourself privileged access and make a note of the password or change it to something more memorable now click the menu that looks like three dots and choose installed this will take a little while so go make yourself a cup of tea this is installing the entire Linux distro on your device so you don't have to do a thing when it's finished just click the start button to run it in root which is essentially a small sub compartment on your device and remember you'll need to hit stop here when you're done as well so it's running but you can't see it yet so finally you use VNC viewer in order to actually view the GUI load it up and set the address to localhost colon five nine zero zero then enter the password that you set earlier and with that as long as your version of Linux is up and running you'll be golden you'll be able to see it move around and do whatever you like here now if you want to start adding more software just head into the terminal and type apt - get install and then the name of the app you want to install so Libre Office is a Microsoft Office alternative iceweasel is essentially Firefox idle is Python idle GIMP the GIMP the image editing software Nautilus - Dropbox if you want Dropbox or software - Center for an app store although this one wouldn't run on my district other than that it's entirely up to you what you want to do with your new Linux environment you really can use this for some basic productivity as long as your screen is big enough you'll need a keyboard and a mouse I'm using the Mac stock folding keyboard and the Microsoft wedge Mouse even if you don't use it to productivity though it's fun trying out some different games and utilities in the software center and just trying your hand at Linux or you can show off to people down the pub that they won't be as impressed with you hope they will so I hope you found this interesting guys if you did then please consider liking and sharing and subscribing and maybe leaving a comment down below if you've struggled with anything then be sure to check out the full article at Android authority comm which should be linked in the description below you'll be able to find more detailed instructions as well as some links and some alternatives for those without root and while you're there why not take a look around and see if anything else catches your eye after all we are your source for all things Android