I have an unused Windows tablet from 2021 running some Core M processor or other that I want to put Linux on and start using again. It doesn’t have a keyboard so I would have to actually use it as a tablet and not a laptop. Is there a distro built around one of the mobile desktop environments that also runs well on x86? (Last time I tried Linux mobile it was pretty much only for ARM and I never got it to work well on even an x86 virtual machine.) Or is regular GNOME deskrop still my best bet for a tablet?

  • agxEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    be sure to not use greeter logins and disk encryption as the on-screen keyboards (OSK) don’t work outside the DE. also, issues with non-US keyboard layouts.

    Greeters like phog or phrog are designed to work with touch and packaged in distributions.

    not sure if you’ll be able to actually use the thing without an external keyboard/mouse; case in point, Gnome for the longest time didn’t allow touch to initiate dropdowns in the UI, kinda big deal.

    No need for a keyboard nowadays (can say so at least for the DE I’m using). You can attach a keyboard though (and often a 2nd (external) display) if you want to turn it (temporarily) into a “desktop”.