this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024
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The link makes it seem like crap hardware, and sure 4gb of ram is really crappy. But how does this compare with one of my kid's Fire tablets? Does anyone have opinions on that?

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[–] werefreeatlast 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's what I thought. It has no android lock to Google, I assume root access, so it's basically really yours?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

You can unlock the bootloader and install FOSS ROMs on some Android tablets.

[–] werefreeatlast 27 points 2 months ago

Yeah, but just the fact that you are unlocking something means to me that at the very bottom of your software stack there's a little switch that if you can't unlock it, your entire computer is locked out to you. The owner should have full access to the entire computing device. I'm fine if the tablet boots to a fail safe interface. That's good Linux practice. But don't permanently eliminate root.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Not many though, a few Samsung and then the pixel tablet as far as I know and they're still a bit more than $150 even used usually

[–] AndrewZabar 1 points 2 months ago

I just ordered a tab a7 lite for myself for some casual use and I read in advance it could be owned with a variety of things to the best of my understanding. I’m hoping it won’t be too much trouble.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lenovo Pad if you order the unlocked versions from Aliexpress. Search for Xiaoxin Pad, anyone offering a global ROM version has unlocked the bootloader.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But are there any actual FOSS ROMs on it?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I installed a GSI fork of LineageOS. Not sure if there are any device-specific ROMs for it, haven't checked in a while.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Needs to be compatible with said tablet, not always the case

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

The problem is the hardware not working because proprietary drivers aren't built into GSIs