Fully second that. I've reached the startling conclusion that if I buy one of the newly released 8" (full) Windows tablets, I end up with more flexibility, more direct access to hardware and my favourite capable open-source software, than if I buy one of the Android offerings and struggle with hacking at it and getting the cut-down apps to actually work properly. I could run OpenVPN, a better choice of open-source Sip clients than on Android, Thunderbird. I could even do proper printing. All that stuff I use on the desktop and actually works. How upside-down life is sometimes!

Tablets that run mostly software-as-a-service ("cloud-based") apps? Already aimed at that market are Firefox OS, Chrome OS, Android and Ubuntu. And that's just off the top of my head. I just don't see how it could be to Slackware's benefit to try to enter this market.

So how is a smart phone smart when all the apps are so dumbed down that a toddler would hardly find it challenging. It's because the phone thinks it is smart, and assumes you are dumb. I find this unacceptable and will never use one. Same for tablets. I wouldn't even give one to a toddler, because it would surely decrease their IQ.

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Why should every ARM device be able to run Slackware? This is a functional, if not philosophical, question. What would you want with Slackware on a phone? For certain, you would no longer be able to make phone calls!

I see Android as a Phone OS - I do not perceive my phone as "dumbed down". It works very well for being online and connected all the time. If I install a custom Android ROM with root then I can still get full access to the phone and its tools, but I do not have the desire to do so.
If I want a full-fledged Linux on a portable device, then a phone is not my first thought. A tablet would be a better choice, but then again, have you ever tried typing for hours on end on a tablet's virtual keyboard?
I tried ssh clients and a vncviewer on my phone and the only thing that happened was that I got irritated with the small screen and the missing special keys.

Did you notice that the new Windows tablets are Intel based, not ARM based? The "Windows RT" for ARM is just a useless OS because there are no apps for it. And then it is no wonder that you can install any program you like on an Intel-based Windows tablet - any Windows software that works on a PC can also be started on a Windows 8 tablet.

If you want a portable ARM device running Linux, try a Samsung Chromebook - that has a real keyboard, fantastic battery life and fast enough for daily work. If I manage to free up some time again I will revisit my ARM port for the Chromebook and get a working Slackware image done. But spare time is virtually non-existent at this moment. Have patience.

Eric

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24 hours later...

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Sorry, no. From that statement I can see that you use your computers primarily for consumption. Not all of us do.

There has to be some way for developers to continue to produce what you want to consume. A smartphone just won't let me see the code on my IDE.

Mobile was one of the things that brought me to Linux over a decade ago. I was using mobile devices before that. I took an old GRiD notebook off the shelf at a previous job with Windows 3.1 for pen computing and replicated out paper based service worksheet with a form in MS access. I went on experimenting with wearables after MIT was making news with them to a carputer before mp3car took off to a custom outlook form which synced data to my Windows CE2.0 Compaq Aero so I could bill my consulting time at client sites paperless. Microsoft went the route that mobile needed a different OS so I went away from them and found that Linux was modular so I could run the same kernel on my laptop, desktop, server and mobile device and just let it load the needed modules for the hardware, no need for a separate OS for each.
I'm running Slackware 14 on my little 9" netbook and the only issue I ever run into are some apps make dialog boxes that are taller than 600 pixels, a simple check for the screen res and moving a couple things around if so would fix that. I've had no need for a special netbook interface with a dumbed down interface.
Same with my phone, my current Smartphone has the same hardware specs as my last laptop which I'd still be running Slackware on if the alternate Intel video driver were available like in Slackware 13. I just don't understand why its been decided that to view or edit a simple spreadsheet I have to upload it to the cloud, replace all the formulas and formatting that didn't import then pay a monthly fee for a capped data plan to slowly download and view that spreadsheet when I could in 1999 sync a spreadsheet directly to my phone and edit it and have it sync back though a local connection. We have made no progress, in fact went backward in functionality in 15 years.
I had high hopes for Android upon learning that it was Linux based but in 4 years just have some simple apps and am no where near being able to just edit a simple spreadsheet. Instead I have to sort through a few dozen specialized apps that only work if you have a connection and hand enter data and not be able to export it to analyze it in a spreadsheet unless I want to hand enter again on my desktop.
I've bought old android phones and played with them hoping to get something working, bought a raspbery pi, etc. I'm happy to help.

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Let me point out that the SteamOS and Steam Machine announcements are proof that desktop machines are here to stay.

SteamOS is supposed to run on "set-top boxes" using the "10 foot" user interface on the "big screen" (aka TV). That is nowhere near of anything what we call a desktop. Some people also say, Valve is now finally "attacking Windows", but they are really challenging the proprietary (x86-based) gaming consoles of Sony and MS.

There is a good chance, that this move will change PC gaming to specialized Linux machines and finally remove the last stand of real desktop PCs at private households.

I think that should be "finally remove the last stand of *gaming* desktop PCs at private households". There you go - corrected that for you. There are plenty of households out there which use their "real desktop PCs" for many other tasks aside from gaming.

Is gaming the only thing people are using desktops for these days? I don't use my desktop for gaming. I use consoles for gaming, my laptops for work, and my desktop for home entertainment.

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/
A completely open and upgradable "set-top box" based on x86(_64) hardware pretty much is the same as a desktop PC in a custom case.

John Carmack and Tim Sweeney at the NVIDIA Montreal Event:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7437/t...real-live-blog

Casual home users switched to notebook PCs a long time ago, because they can use them anywhere they want. Now these Windows/Mac notebooks are threatened by Chromebooks, Android tablets and iPads. Which is the root of this discussion. Of course some people still buy into iMacs and lookalikes.

Beside gaming there is not much which requires an expandable desktop/tower machine at home. And by the numbers most home users prefer a console connected to their TV set for gaming. Valve knows that. If they are able to pull off the Steam box and move their PC gaming crowd over to it, the remainder of the desktop/tower home PCs most likely will vanish from the stores. Of course they will sell Steam boxes then, dedicated to gaming.

This will not strengthen the position of the Linux desktop. Because no one will do "serious work" on a Steam box connected to his TV.

Adding to the above, the other advantage of desktop PCs is expandable storage. And most people who need expandable storage just buy dedicated NAS storage devices. Many of which have upnp/dlna media streaming capabilities built right in.

I, however, am not most people. I serve my media from a tower running nginx and h5ai.