Ask Slashdot: Tablet With Root Access By Default? 168
hweimer writes "I am looking for a small (7") tablet that comes with root access out of the box. I know, I could get one of the usual suspects and root it myself, but I don't want to waste my time in the process and end up voiding my warranty. Basically, I'd like to use it for web browsing, reading PDFs and accessing my e-mails via SSH (extra bonus for X11 forwarding). Any good suggestions, or should I wait for Tizen devices to hit the market?"
Doesn't matter the OS (Score:5, Insightful)
None. Every tablet with Android has to be rooted and vendors are working very, very hard to fight the small percentage of users that do root. The closest you can get are tablets that don't sign the kernel and allow you to customize the OS (load cyanogenmod or something) but increasingly vendors are on the attack against that (B&N clamping down on the Nook Tablet, Samsung pushing out an update that locks down the platform.)
Tizen-based devices will, thus far, simply allow for a more standard *nix platform and other ready-made and compatible distributions, but that still requires you work your way through the first line of vendor hostilities (platsec misused against you) and then the second line of vendor hostilities (proprietary, signed bootloader and possibly a checksummed kernel.)
It's extra shitty in the mobile space these days, especially for those who like to do a little more than blindly consume.
I root because I can! (Score:3, Insightful)
"web browsing, reading PDFs and accessing my e-mails via SSH"
Yes, if only there were a single tablet on the market that didn't require rooting to do such complicated tasks as web browsing, reading PDFs, or even [android.com] a [google.com] single [apple.com] SSH [apple.com] client [google.com].
Look, I'm all in favor of individuals having control of their devices. But I'm pretty sure there's a reason nobody sells a rooted tablet that does exactly the same things as everyone else's tablets. If you can't even answer why you need root access, don't expect to find a product that will.
Knowledgable people's opinions (Score:5, Insightful)
Googling will get you every two bit opinion on Earth. At least by asking Slashdot, you're narrowing the two-bit opinions to an audience that would more than likely know for sure.
I once asked my brother (also in IT) his opinion on something IT related. He said, "let me google that. Here you go."
I replied, "I did that, thank you. I wanted your opinion and your experience if any."
Here's another example of where googling can be a dumb idea - car repair. If you don't know much about cars, you will be led down some expensive paths.
All google seems to get you many times is the Earth wide Peanut Gallery.
Re:You're an idiot. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sometimes people post in their own question about how they are capable of rooting a tablet themselves but don't want to waste the time while being perfectly happy to waste their time (much more than would be needed to actually root an android device) and the time of others with this silly question. He could have rooted a tablet 10 times over in the amount of time it will take him to get a useful response from this thread. I think that makes him an idiot.
Re:Do you actually need it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's just imagine you bought a car to drive to work in and go on occasional weekend trips to the countryside.
Now let's imagine, when you get the keys and enter in there's a little contract lying there which says "you can drive to work, you can have work colleagues, but if you want to drive out of town on a weekday evening then you need to pay extra and if you want to have a girlfriend in the car, that's not allowed". You'd be pissed.
The guy wants to buy a tablet which he owns not Apple. He wants to do normal stuff on it, but he doesn't, within reason, want someone else telling him what he can and can't do with it. Is that so complex? Why do we always get a bunch of Applesoft trolls coming on and telling us "oh; but you didn't say you wanted to drive around with a girlfriend". Of course he didn't. This is slashdot, he doesn't expect to get a girlfriend, but when he does get one he's not going to be happy with your restrictions. Now he'd just like to buy and own a tablet. Later he can decide what he doesn't want to do with it.