I just ordered a used OnePlus 6 cellphone off of eBay with the intention of installing @postmarketOS on it.

I've been toying with the idea for a while now, particularly for running a lightweight home server for very simple services where a small form factor PC would be overkill.

The way I'm looking at it, buying a used phone in decent condition gets you something about as powerful and power efficient as a Raspberry Pi. But unlike a Raspberry Pi or small form factor PC, it includes a built-in battery that can serve as a makeshift UPS, and a touch screen so I don't have to cobble together a crash cart every time I need to attach a console to it. It also appears to be cheaper than a Pi once you add all the usual parts, and cheaper than a few months' worth of renting an equivalently powerful VM at most budget cloud service providers.

Plus there's also a certain attraction to breathing new life into old tech and reusing equipment in an environmentally-friendly fashion (h/t @tinker)

If I'm right about my assumptions, then it makes me wonder why more people don't go this route versus buying Raspberry Pis and similar devices. Or if I'm wrong then I'm just needlessly over-complicating my life (like usual).

Tips and tricks welcome!

I'll report back in a few weeks.