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1% language=us runpath=texruns:manuals/ontarget
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3\startcomponent ontarget-fairphone
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5\environment ontarget-style
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7\startchapter[title={\LMTX\ on a phone}]
8
9When my FairPhone~2 started to get issues (running hot and then rebooting) and
10some spare parts became hard to get, I moved on to a FairPhone~4. We're talking
11early 2022. The specifications of that little computer, which comes with a 5 year
12warrantee and long term support are quite okay: a 1080x2340 pixel display, a
13Qualcomm SM7225 Snapdragon 750G (Octa|-|core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 570 & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo
14570), an Adreno 619 GPU, 8GB memory. an 256GB solid state disk, the usual
15phone gadgets like audio, camera, wireless, bluetooth and gps, and an
16USB Type-C 3.0 connector with support for OTG and DisplayPort.
17
18Why do these specification matter? One reason is that in the compile farm we
19generate binaries for ARM processors and this phone has a decent one. The fast
20cores are in the same league as an over|-|clocked RaspberryPi~4 that we use in
21the compile farm for generating 32~bit binaries; the 64~bit binaries are generated
22in a virtual machine on a Mac Mini. So, in 2023, when looking at that phone, I
23wondered if we could run \LMTX\ on it. I installed the UserLand \LINUX\ stub from
24the Android Playstore and got myself an Ubuntu headless installation. After
25downloading the \LMTX\ installer indeed I could install the distribution on the
26little machine.
27
28A next step was trying to connect the phone to the display on my desk and after
29getting the right USB|-|C cable from the local computer shop I managed to get a
30bit larger terminal although Android~12 seems not able to use the whole 4K
31screen. Putting it in developers mode made it possible to enable the Android
32desktop interface in an external monitor. A bluetooth keyboard and mouse
33completed the setup. Later I tried a \LINUX\ desktop but that was quite a
34disappointment so more research is needed there.
35
36A predictable next step was to see if I could compile the \LUAMETATEX\ source
37that is part of the installation. Installing \GCC\ and \CMAKE\ was easy and indeed
38compilation went pretty well after that.
39
40A quick performance test showed that making a format, which includes generating
41the file database, initially takes 10~seconds but less that 4~seconds once files
42are cached. Processing 1000 paragraphs from the \type {tufte} sample file is done
43with a reasonable 55~pages per second. I didn't test more complex documents but
44that might happen later, when the dock that I ordered has arrived, and when I
45have a decent display setup.
46
47Given the fact that I only use a handful of applications on the laptop one can
48wonder when the moment is there that a properly dockable phone can do the job. Of
49course a disadvantage is that batteries are too small so one needs to provide
50power, but one needs a monitor, keyboard and mouse anyway. Wear and tear of the
51\SSD\ can also be an issue but when storage is plenty that should work out all
52right. Of course it also assumes a stable operating system with one's favourite
53editing platform and viewer available.
54
55\stopchapter
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