I’m the other way around. I switched to Debian on my main around a year ago now and I’m like “oh, this game works, and this game works too, oh and that works as well, wow!”. Honestly, any game I threw at Debian, it just… worked. Granted, I don’t play very recent games and most of them either single player or does not have any serious anti cheat measures. Even VR works with ALVR and Steam VR, wirelessly on my (or rather my homie’s, just borrowed) Quest 2.
And not just games, a lot of Windows software just works with Wine.
So, before the change, I thought I need or use Windows exclusive software, and I did, but all of them are now have decent alternatives. Maybe except for Notepad++. (I use Kate and KWrite, but… I really don’t like those softwares, but they get the job done the same way np++ did)
So, I’m really surprised how well this past 1 year went without any issue.
But that’s kinda valid that if something doesn’t run, then people won’t change. You are talking about people who doesn’t care libre/FOSS software and all that jazz, they won’t change if it’s just simply worse.
With Termux on Android, it’s possible to install Debian in a proot environment.
More about this here: https://github.com/termux/proot-distro
I guess using this envirinment, it’s possible to set up your server to your needs.
One thing I don’t know is how to autostart Termux at boot, but there must be a way, “worst-case” a Tasker routine can do it. Also, another thing to considerate with this setup is Android’s memory management and to detect if your proot distro gets killed. But then again, maybe Tasker is good for that, too.
Good thing with this proot-distro thing is that it’s really easy and straightforward to set up, and basically you have a full Linux environment in your pocket. There are limitations, of course.
As for installing/flashing full Debian on an Android phone, let’s say it’s not possible. Your closest best bet would be Ubuntu Touch on a supported device.