Prospects for an accessible and open version of Android?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Amanda:

MeerKat's point is to be tiny. System76 advertise the ability to attach
the short version directly to a monitor so that it takes up no space on
a desk. It's portable only in the sense that it's small and would fit
neatly into any traveling case.

If you want battery powered, well they make a range of compelling
laptops, too.

Putting a battery into the tall MeerKat's second drive compartment is an
interesting notion. Perhaps System76 might find that attractive. Why not
ask them?

And, as for being blocked on boot for lack of mouse or monitor, I think
those days are history on Linux, though I can't specifically speak to
Ubuntu. Here's the mainstream problem with that--it doesn't support
headless deployments, which are fairly common these days.

Best,

Janina

Linux for blind general discussion writes:
> A couple of questions about the MeerKat:
> Do you have to plug in a mouse and/or monitor for it to work when it
> starts up? I had this experience on another Ubuntu system
> Can you get a built-in battery? I don't understand the point of a tiny
> device if you have to plug it in to use it.
> 
> Amanda
> 
> On 6/21/20, Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
> > My apology for not keeping the initial question in mind.
> >
> > However, I wonder if asking an Android phone to serve this function is
> > more an academic exercise than a practical one at this point?
> >
> > I say this because I'm just now in the process of buying my next
> > (natively) Linux computer, and it's quite small. It comes pretty close
> > to the size of an Android phone. So, I suspect it might be the easier
> > path of practicality is the point.
> >
> > I'm talking about the MeerKat 5 (small) from System76.com (which you can
> > get with up to a 10th generation Intel I7, 64Gb RAM, and 2Tb NVME
> > drive), all in a box about 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches by 1.5 inches tall.
> > The base price is very competitive with a new Android device, imo, with
> > far more going for it when portable Linux is the goal.
> >
> > Which is not to put down academic exercies aimed at hacking Android into
> > something usable. I just think the two questions are worth treating
> > separately.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Janina
> >
> > Linux for blind general discussion writes:
> >> I think Amanda is trying to get back to the question I originally posted.
> >> That is, she wants to set up a cell phone with a (mostly) FOSS Android
> >> variant,
> >> in order to have an accessible, extensible, and extremely portable
> >> computer
> >> that is under her (rather than Google's) control.
> >>
> >> Although she might use the Android UI for some tasks, the goal is to have
> >> a
> >> command-line interface and a set of blind-friendly commands that she can
> >> enter
> >> via Bluetooth, SSH, etc.  Longer term, entering commands by braille or
> >> voice
> >> might allow her to dispense with a separate keyboard.
> >>
> >> As my posting indicated, there are several candidates for a base OS, but
> >> it's
> >> hard to tell which one(s) would be a good fit for this use case.
> >> Suggestions?
> >>
> >> - Rich Morin
> >>
> >> > On Jun 15, 2020, at 23:59, Linux for blind general discussion
> >> > <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > I don't understand your question. An Android device is a Linux device.
> >> > It runs on linux kernels, implements several Linux libraries. Its audio
> >> > subsystem is driven by alsa.
> >> >
> >> > The user doesn't see this, of course, because all of that is under the
> >> > hood, so to speak. The user interface on Android is written in Java, so
> >> > bears no resemblance to the graphical desktop one might see on a
> >> > typical
> >> > Linux computer, typically GNOME or KDE.
> >> >
> >> > So, what are you asking? Please say more.
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Blinux-list at redhat.com
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> >
> > --
> >
> > Janina Sajka
> >
> > Linux Foundation Fellow
> > Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org
> >
> > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> > Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Blinux-list mailing list
> > Blinux-list at redhat.com
> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
> >
> >
> 
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-- 

Janina Sajka

Linux Foundation Fellow
Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa