Hi Razvan,
let me check on your first point and see what I can do there, I'll keep this thread updated
The second point is not as easy as it seems like. Especially Android kernels have a lot of hooks and modifications to fit to the use-cases Android is intended for. Even the official x86 port of Android has a lot of custom adoptions. And if you then plan to run it on the Android you have to adopt the kernel patches made for the 3.10.17 vanilla kernel. Of course it is possible to use the x86 port for Android with a custom kernel, but this is also a little bit tricky.
But what you are describing with the chroot command under Android is also possible under the pre-installed Yocto distribution. It is possible in the same way as under Android to change the root-fs with the chroot command and use the already running kernel with the Debian root-fs. Just as described above, bootstrap a Debian installation onto an USB stick, plug it into the Edison Arduino board and chroot to that system. Maybe you have to re-mount some special folders, but basically you are happy to go with the Debian system. Let me see what I can and if I find some time to write a short howto for that.