I've been getting some requests to port my "Easy Debian" chroot scripts to the N9, and I've been reluctant to release anything because getting this to work depends upon flashing the Open Kernel (which means a fairly complicated flashing process and re-installing all of your apps), and, if you aren't one of the lucky few to have the N950, you'll need to install btinput and pair a Bluetooth hardware keyboard with your N9.

So I wouldn't call this "Easy Debian". My current lame little working name is "HarmChom", short for "Harmattan Chroot Open Mode".

I am linking to the tarball of my scripts. It is the beginnings of a .deb package, but I haven't figured out what I need to add to a .deb in Open Mode yet, and I wanted to get these scripts out there for you all to start using.

Basically just copy the files in the src/ directory into your phone's file system.

UPDATE: I recommend instaling coderus' sudo instead of using my fake sudo below.
As root,
I have made a "fake sudo" which is just an alias for "ssh root@localhost", but for it to work properly in scripts (i.e. no passwords), you should set up ssh key authentication.

Here are the scripts: HarmChom.tgz

Make the /home/user/.chroot file point to the correct image file, then use "debian" as root to run chroot commands. You can also use qchroot, qmount, qumount, closechroot, etc. the same as on previous versions of my scripts.

On my phone, I am using a modified version of my standard Easy Debian image, which includes a new version of the script to get LXDE up and running.

Here is the new script, put it in the /usr/bin of your image:
xephwm

And because I'm still trying to figure out the problems of running as root from an icon (see the fake sudo above), this script (when placed in your image's /usr/bin dir) drops you to user and then runs xephwm:
suxephwm

With everything set up properly, using these scripts (and the .desktop file included), I was able to launch LXDE from an icon, then run OpenOffice Writer and write a 500 word essay on an airplane.

Anyway, try this stuff out, and post your comments here.

Thanks for your efforts, just for your interest: It is possible to run Firefox10 (and may be even more apps) from oneiric on the n900 with nemo installed, i guess there are issues with dbus which cause some crashes. May be the buggy thumb was fixed in the Meego-Kernel, so i will make further investigations if it's possible to use up2date-debapps on the n900... Should be interesting for the nemo-team anyway!
Update: Audacity1.3.13-beta is able to record and play

I posted a video demo, just so you see how fast the N9 / N950 can run Debian apps like OpenOffice.org. The N900 is a slug in comparison!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuSfZHU1brA

Great video! More.....

yes looks promising , what are next steps ? chrooting plasma aktive distro ?

That is AMAZING! Thanks for this work and for posting video. A desktop OS and desktop-grade software that runs at a really workable speed, in the pocket!

Does the screen sensitivity and absence of a stylus prove annoying?

Apart from to type with, are there any other reasons to have a hardware kb - for instance, does not having one prevent certain interactions with the OS? For very simple text entry in Harma-Deb is the vkb ok, or is it disabled?

At this point I know of no way to trigger the VKB from within a Debian app. Maybe we can use one of the Debian VKBs. I wish someone would get Maliit working in ARM Debian or Ubuntu.

Wow, OpenOffice 3 @ N9 is faster than @ my notebook !

cool, thx mr qole, and i like ur blog too,

So, anyone going to try these scripts with Inception and see if you can mount on loop?