Debian Lenny on Android Phones
Thanks to a hack a few days ago, BusyBox has been running on the T-Mobile G1 mobile phones with Google's Android platform. Now Jay Freeman, alias saurik, goes a step further: in his blog he describes how to install Debian Lenny by way of root access on the device.
All is well, according to Freeman on his website, because Debian already supports ARM EABI. EABI stands for Embedded Application Binary Interface developed by ARM to be the interface port for the same-named 32-bit microprocessors.
Freeman established a special hacker's mailing list to discuss the G1. The steps to your own Debian phone, however, are not trivial. Among other things you have to add a filesystem to the kernel and pack root into a filesystem image that you then mount on Android's 16-Gbyte FAT.
Beginners beware of such experimentation, unless you inherited a trust fund. Parts of the world where G1s are not yet available can only watch as those that do have them promptly turn them into bricks. The next updates to the device are already on the way, so Freeman advises users to play with it "while you still can." Unfortunately saurik's website doesn't show pictures of the result of his successful hack.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.