Remember when Canonical was doing everything they could to bring convergence between the Linux desktop and the Ubuntu Phone? They worked tirelessly to make it happen, only to fall short of that goal. This effort was preceded by Ubuntu Edge—a smartphone that, by itself, would bridge the mobile device and the desktop. That failed as well, but the intent was the same.
For those that aren’t familiar, the idea behind convergence is simple: Offer a single device that could serve as both a smartphone handset, and when connected to a monitor work as a standard desktop computer. The idea is quite brilliant and makes perfect sense. Especially when you remember how many people use a smartphone as their only means of either connecting to the world or productivity. With that number growing every year, the idea of convergence becomes even more important. Give them one device that could function in two very important ways.
Unfortunately, the company that dreamed up the idea simply couldn’t make it happen.
Enter Samsung—a company with more than enough smarts and resources to make convergence a reality. In fact, they already have. With Samsung DeX users can connect a Galaxy S8/S8+ or a Note8 to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a full-blown desktop experience powered by your phone. However, in its current incarnation, DeX is limited to the capability of Android. And although converging that mobile environment to a desktop format makes it significantly more productive, it still lacks a few significant tools.
Enter Linux—an open source operating system whose kernel powers the Android platform. Samsung has announced it has a beta version of an app (Linux On Galaxy) that will allow users to run a full-blown Linux desktop on the Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8/S8+ smartphones. This will happen via DeX.
Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/samsung-dex-will-finally-give-life-to-the-linux-smartphone/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
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