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Tux Machines
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 30, 2023
What is ConvergenceIn 2013 Kyle Rankin (at the time Linux Journal columnist and CSO of Purism) wrote a Linux Journal article about Linux convergence [1] (which means using a phone and a dock to replace a desktop) featuring the Nokia N900 smart phone and a chroot environment on the Motorola Droid 4 Android phone. Both of them have very limited hardware even by the standards of the day and neither of which were systems I’d consider using all the time. None of the Android phones I used at that time were at all comparable to any sort of desktop system I’d want to use.
Hardware for Convergence – Comparing a Phone to a LaptopThe first hardware issue for convergence is docks and other accessories to attach a small computer to hardware designed for larger computers. Laptop docks have been around for decades and for decades I haven’t been using them because they have all been expensive and specific to a particular model of laptop. Having an expensive dock at home and an expensive dock at the office and then replacing them both when the laptop is replaced may work well for some people but wasn’t something I wanted to do. The USB-C interface supports data, power, and DisplayPort video over the same cable and now USB-C docks start at about $20 on eBay and dock functionality is built in to many new monitors. I can take a USB-C device to the office of any large company and know there’s a good chance that there will be a USB-C dock ready for me to use. The fact that USB-C is a standard feature for phones gives obvious potential for convergence.
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