box86 Actually Works Well on Manjaro Phosh/xfce

[jakfish]

It's a bit of a hike to get to the end of compiling and installing, but once done, box86/WINE performs admirably on the PP Community phone/physical keyboard.

In xfce (though not in Manjaro Phosh, oddly), LibreOffice has laggy typing, but Word 97, despite its 20-second start-up, has none, and once the program is up, it's as robust as anything on the PP. All its features function and it works with the phone's suspend.

HanDBase, my favorite cross-platform database app, also does its job.

[Peter Gamma]

At first sight I was against running Windows programs on the Linux Pinephone. But after I`ve found a series of 3 introductory videos in the VHS archive about Windows 97 I have changed my mind:

https://petergamma.org/what-to-expect-fr...t-started/

After looked quickly through these, I think Windows 97 is really a piece of software to seriously work with, even in the years 2024. I remember very well to have worked with it often. And the question arises if there is something better for the Pinephone as a word processor:

https://petergamma.org/selected-office-a...-zero-2-w/

And the situation is not much better for Android devices or the the Raspberry Pi zero 2 w. I found people which use other programs with box86/Wine, as for instance the whole Office 97 suite, or later Office versions such as Office 2003.

You had it running on the Planet Computer Gemini, jakfish, as you have written in another threat? I am happy to have learned about this. It is good to know that someone has actually has used or is interested devices like the Pinephone and I hope someone manages to get the PP keyboard back to have a good Office solution with Office 97 on the Pinephone.

[jakfish]

I had exagear running on the Gemini; box86 installed on the PP Community edition. Exagear should run on the PP as well, though only Wine3.0 (and that's modified for exagear, available in custom repository ) will work, but 3.0 did fine for older x86 programs such as Word 97. I am neither a developer nor veteran of box86/exagear on ARM; I just limped through because I'm not a fan of Libreoffice or Abiword.

Between exagear and box86 for your PP, I guess I would choose box86. To reiterate, it's a deep dive, full of downloads, compilations, fits and starts (at least for me it was). So brace yourself for a possibly long road to success.

[Peter Gamma]

Thank you, jakfish, a lot of work once more? 

I already had a lot of work with installing LibreOffice on the Pinephone which hardly anyone seems to use. 

Is once more a lot of work for the Pinephone not only worth doing when Pine64 offers a Pinephone keyboard?

But Pine64 does not offer a Pinephone keyboard anymore, what sucks .

Such a great keyboard in which so many reviewers invested time and also debuggers and issue writes such as me? Not available anymore? Which LInux phone company does this to his users?

[Kevin Kofler]

The fact that all those word processors are basically unusable without a physical keyboard is the main reason why almost nobody is interested in them. To be a reasonable solution for a smartphone, an application must be touch-friendly, i.e., usable with touch only (using the mobile environment's virtual keyboard for keyboard input, and touch-friendly UI controls for everything else). If it requires using keyboard shortcuts to access basic functionality and/or if it cannot be reliably used with a virtual keyboard, the application is useless on a phone.

[jakfish]

The fact that all those word processors are basically unusable without a physical keyboard is the main reason why almost nobody is interested in them. To be a reasonable solution for a smartphone, an application must be touch-friendly, i.e., usable with touch only (using the mobile environment's virtual keyboard for keyboard input, and touch-friendly UI controls for everything else). If it requires using keyboard shortcuts to access basic functionality and/or if it cannot be reliably used with a virtual keyboard, the application is useless on a phone.

Very much agree. My daily is Unihertz Pocket for exactly your reasons; the PP is a traveling computer. BTW, what percentage--in your estimation--of PP/PPP users have the physical kb?

[Zebulon Walton]

Very much agree. My daily is Unihertz Pocket for exactly your reasons; the PP is a traveling computer. BTW, what percentage--in your estimation--of PP/PPP users have the physical kb?

Hard to say, Pine64 would know how many they've sold. That doesn't necessarily mean they're all being actively used. I bought a keyboard when they were offered out of curiosity but after some initial experimentation have not used it for a long time, mainly because it make the phone too cumbersome to carry around in a holster. I have not tried any word processors on the Pinephone. Between the weak CPU and the USB2 internal storage connection just about anything but basic telephone operation is painfully slow. If I have to edit files on the Pinephone I ssh into it and use vi/vim.

[jakfish]

Unfortunately, I need manuscript-level syntax (em dashes, etc) for most of my work, so I have to commit my PP to Word 97 or struggle with the bloated LibreOffice.

As for the kb, I always have to hold my breath during an update, hoping nothing breaks again. In fact, since I do nothing on the PP that warrants much security, I haven't updated Manjaro in a while.

While I very much admire the kb, I do wish for a new generation, but I guess there's not enough demand to produce one.

[Peter Gamma]

For me personally it is almost scandalous that Pine64 has pulled the Pinephone keyboard from the shop.

I invested a lot of time in installing LibreOffice on the Pinephone. It is currently not usable on the screen, but could be adapted. One option would be to remove the menues and use it with keyboard shortcuts to make it usable.

Then we have Abiword and Gnmeric. Both require the Pinephone keyboard to work with.

There is basically no altnative to the Pinephone keyboard.

Wibble tested the iGo Bluetooth keyboard for 30 min and said it worked without issues. But is too big for my purpose.

Then jackfish installed Word97 on the Pinephone. There is series of 3 introduction videos available. If you look at these, I came to the conclusion that Word 97 is still a great application in the year 2024, at least for the Pinephone.

It did a lot of review work on my personal website www.petergamma.org to use the Pinephone for writers. You can  find it under the category "Linux Pinephone"

https://petergamma.org/category/pinephone/

But if Pine64 pulls the Pinephone keyboard from the market the Pinephone is basically not usable for writers anymore.

This is a pity.

There are issues with the Pinephone keyboard. But there are work arounds how to resolve this.

Just to pull the Pinephone keyboard from the market before having an alternative is really scandalous for me personally after all the hard work I did with the Pinephone.

With all the knowledge which is available, the Pinephone Keyboard would be a big advantage for writers.

It makes it similar handy as the QTEK 9000, a device which was my all day companion for many years.

The Pinephone  with the Pinephone keyboard would be a contemporary replacement for the QTEK 9000 which I haven’t found for me personally to this date.

But if Pine64 pulls the Pinephone keyboard from the marked, this makes me retreat from the Pinephone forever. There are alternatives on the market which are superior. Especially how they deal with costumers, for instance based on the Raspberry Pi CM4.

[Peter Gamma]

- I invite Jakfish, the hero who showed that box86 actually works  well on the Pinephone and can run Word 97 for another test.

- Word 97 is one of the best if not the best office application for the Pinephone.

- I invite Jakfish, the hero who is about to save the Pinephone for office applications also to test the

«wireless dual mode Bluetooth Rii (Upgrade) i4 Mini Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad, Blacklit Portable Wireless Keyboard with 2.4G USB Dongle for Smartphones, PC, Table with his Pinephone:

   

https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Bluetooth-Key...B07T13GLY3

-  here is explained why:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=19317

- There is a good chance that it works with the Pinephone.

- It is actually the best solution I can offer to heros to test.

- If a hero like Jakfish invests so much time in testing that:

box86 Actually Works Well on Manjaro Phosh/xfce

- is it not worth to make another test with this keyboard to save the Pinephone for office applications?

- I have been a hero enough for office on the Pinephone by installing it and not being able to use it:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=16614

- But I invite all Pinephone heros to save the Pinephone for Office applications

-  and test this keyboard which is essential for Office applications

-  together with  Jakfish & Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org. 

- There is currently now alternative keyboard available which would be worth mentioning for the Pinephone.