[Techtalk] Phones and tablets conversion to Linux

[Alvin Goats]

All,

Everyone's been quiet on all message lists everywhere, so I thought I'd 
bring up an issue I'm seeing.

In the US, 3G is being shelved and with various mergers going on, some 
services (i.e. Sprint) are going to be closed down with their 
connections for 4G/LTE being shut off as well.

Consequently, I have some phones that are going to go dead. Phone is 
good, but no longer supported by anyone.

SO....how to root the phone (and for that matter any tablet) and install 
Linux on them. I think this might make for a good book and it will help 
reduce electronic waste. Or is there a book already written?

Most of these devices have WiFi and Bluetooth. We can disable the SIM 
card and other phone services.

It would be nice if the device can be used as a video camera for 
streaming or long recordings (i.e. filming a how to video) to another 
computer. Even using the camera for video conferencing through the USB 
connection.

Music player and video watching by stored media or over WiFi is good. 
Mp3, flac, and anything supported by VLC is good.

Reading is also of interest whether it is pdf, epub, lit, txt, doc, 
comic book reader formats.

Some games would also be nice. Personally I play Klondike Solitaire, but 
if we can load things like the various Android or Apple games that would 
also be nice. Just download the apk or whatever and install manually.

I'm not a writer, but I can be a reviewer.

Phones and tablets I'm personally looking at:

Samsung (various)
LG (mostly the Tribute series)
Motorola (various)
Nook
Very Old Kindles (I expect some day they will no longer be supported).
iPhones that are 3G only

For me, this covers my phones, my wife's phones and the kid's phones.

Alvin