@thisisthebreath @lupyuen
Yeah of course! You can run PostmarketOS on it with the i3 window manager as well as Maemo Leste.
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/index.php?title=Nokia_N900_(nokia-n900)&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop
https://leste.maemo.org/Getting_Started

@thisisthebreath @lupyuen
Maemo leste is super cool, since it's still Maemo but it has newer software like the linux kernel.

@carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen i see that it has a new mac address every time it boots?

seems like an ideal unit for privacy on public networks

i assume there are several tor browsers that work?

@thisisthebreath @lupyuen
Yeah, there's a QT webbrowser on Maemo Leste and theres a good few light ones on PostmarketOS too.

@thisisthebreath @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen my #N900 with #PostmarketOS is still doing a decent job as a pocket-sized SSH client - especially useful to control media on my Raspberry Pis when I'm around the house, or for small system administration tasks.

Besides that, and occasionally showing it off to some geek friends (or maybe use it as a small in-house server), I struggled to find many practical uses - I may have really stretched its lifetime more than the NASA team did with the Voyager probes.

Another problem I have is with PostmarketOS. It's built around Busybox and OpenRC instead of the GNU environment + systemd. It means that most of my existing configuration files, services etc. won't work without modifications. This is something I hoped Ubuntu Touch could fix, but Ubuntu Touch eventually preferred to follow the path of the locked+containerized school that made the tinkering experience worse. Since I loved Maemo a decade ago, I could give Leste a try, but I also have my concerns about a project still based on Debian oldstable that is likely to ship software that is at least a couple of years old...

@blacklight @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen i have an n800 as well

@thisisthebreath @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen I used to have an N800 too, and even an ancient N770, but those two devices already failed badly a couple of years ago because of inexplicable hardware issues. So far the N900 has really stood the test of time though.

@blacklight

Love to have a keyboard again...and eyeing this one; https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/astro-slide (a tad pricey)

Had a chance to "feel it" at Embedded World a few weeks ago, and feels very solid.

Apparently running Ubuntu (boss in booth said that) or Android...so should be possible to get a proper FOSS working.

@thisisthebreath @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen

@niclas @blacklight @thisisthebreath @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen that's using Mediatek 800 as stated on the page. I'm not sure what the current status for mainlining the SoC is (let alone the device) but my educated guess is - not even close.
I don't have anything against Planet Computers but be prepared to be stuck with what they release. Usually distro builds with their BSP kernel.

It's not bad per-se and I'm sure the k-b is awesome. There are limitations to be aware of tho

@pak0st

Thanks, I'll query more about it.

@blacklight @thisisthebreath @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen

@blacklight @carbonatedcaffeine @lupyuen @celesteh “Another problem I have is with PostmarketOS. It's built around Busybox and OpenRC instead of the GNU environment + systemd.”

Heh - reading this just convinced me it’s worth checking out.