I'm glad I'm not the first person to run standard Debian X applications in ITOS using my methods (without recompiling or using "dpkg -i --force-the-kitchen-sink"). I also agree that my discoveries are trivial. I wish someone who had done it, however, had posted some information somewhere so I didn't have to re-invent the wheel. Hopefully, my post will avoid others reinventing that wheel again and again.

To be honest, I've just wanted a way to easily install and run Debian apps and have them more-or-less "just work". Every method I've tried has been disappointing, and this chroot-with-bind method has produced extremely satisfactory results. The apps install without hassle, they work reasonably well, and I don't lose any of my tablet's functionality just to get Abiword running.

I like PB's KDE as the WM to run Debian apps because he has hacked in all sorts of tablet-specific tools and tricks, such as a hardware key that makes apps go full-screen, a key to toggle right-click, a key to move too-big dialog boxes, and he's managed to get the core Hildon apps running, too. So it really is the best of all (three) worlds.

I chose "mount --bind" because that's "how it's done" in all the how-tos for getting 32-bit apps running in a 64 bit system, which is where I learned how to do it.

I am also looking forward to your new system, Benson. To be able to boot to a Debian install that recognizes the tablet's hardware etc. is exciting, too.