Snedd
Well-Known Member
Is this another one of those Mayan prophecy things? What I think they actually said was 2012 will be the year of UBUNTU, yeah!
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2012 - year of Linux!
- Thread starter robomo
- Start date
Is this another one of those Mayan prophecy things? What I think they actually said was 2012 will be the year of UBUNTU, yeah!
Not correct.
Android = Linux + Dalvik Virtual Machine (VM) + apps
All apps, both java and native C, run in the VM and use library services from Linux.
Get root access, and install bash and BusyBox and you begin to open things up with commands you know.
It's a far cry from a kernel and a few java apps. It's very much Linux.
baillou2
Well-Known Member
Not correct.
Android = Linux + Dalvik Virtual Machine (VM) + apps
All apps, both java and native C, run in the VM and use library services from Linux.
Get root access, and install bash and BusyBox and you begin to open things up with commands you know.
It's a far cry from a kernel and a few java apps. It's very much Linux.
When I can install grub and the gnome DE on it, I'll call it a real linux distro.
SUroot
Extreme Android User
Might not be as far off as you think. We've already got glibc and much more on the desire. Apt-get and many linuxy things
artaxerxes
Well-Known Member
^ True, but would you call the mobile phone a desktop?
(just to stir the pot
After pairing a physical keyboard, mouse, and tv to my phone -- it's getting pretty close. And you may say I'm crazy, but I think it is rather fun.
My input on the main topic? I was never a fan of Linux being a desktop replacement, but it has its uses as a server. I guess this thought comes from bad experiences.
What do you think we had before gnome came along? Not Linux? Stone knives and bearskins?
^ True, but would you call the mobile phone a desktop?
(just to stir the pot
I most certainly do. People here refer to having 3 to 7 homescreens on their desktop all of the time and rightly so.
The desktop is optimized for touch input. It's called launcher in this distribution, it runs in the VM, and you install only the application user interfaces you need, befitting a compact memory Linux.
And a desktop doesn't define an operating system. All you need is a console window so you can get to tools on any unix, the rest is gravy. I can ftp or ssh or vnc in or out of my phone, so could you.
And because it's a true Linux, if you simply must have an X desktop, then use a looping device, launch a second VM, and have your desktop look like this -
http://androidforums.com/attachments/evo-3d-all-things-root/20800d1312649478-ubuntu-linux-3vo-ff-gimp.jpg
Or VNC into that on your laptop and use the Android desktop on the phone at the same time and make a phone call while you do other stuff.
But that's cheating, because I run a second Linux in that VM.
But Android is Linux, every bit of it. Install Terminal Emulator and see for yourself. Desktops or optimized desktops running in a VM is simply something you add to Linux. Run top or ps on your phone in a terminal window.
Unix existed long before the window manager.
zuben el genub
Extreme Android User
That's the beauty of Linux. If I simply don't want a multi-homescreen desktop, I don't have to have one. Linux makes it easy. How to tweak whatever is posted in almost every group.
There are tweaks to get rid of junk in Windows, except some you had to buy like the LITE series. Go check out annoyances.org.
There are tweaks to get rid of junk in Windows, except some you had to buy like the LITE series. Go check out annoyances.org.
A.Nonymous
Extreme Android User
*Nix systems run the world it seems EXCEPT for the desktop and business servers. Windows owns that market and I don't see that changing. I don't think we'll ever see Linux on the desktop in wide usage.
Once upon a time, RIM and Nokia owned the smartphone market and no one ever saw that changing.
ElasticNinja
Android Expert
Once upon a time, RIM and Nokia owned the smartphone market and no one ever saw that changing.
The thing with that is, smartphone users change their devices every one to two years, allowing for sudden market shifts, and its also a growing market.
The desktop market is saturated, and people replace their computers every four to six years. If Google had given their backing to a Linux based desktop OS, or created one (No.. not Chrome OS
), I would have a lot of hope for some kind of shift. I dont really see anything that will bring Linux desktop use over 5% in the next few years.
When OS X came out and was heralded as the dominant unix desktop, a lot of people said that it wasn't unix because they didn't want it to be and/or they didn't like Apple and/or they didn't like a corporation bending BSD to its will (even though every *nix distribution in the history of *nix has been bent to someone's will).
If Google had released a Linux for traditional PCs (not backing down from my desktop statement), I've no doubt it would be met with the same outcry.
Then there was the infamous Dell laptop that cost more to remove Windows and have it shipped with Linux (and not always working at that).
Apple is the business of moving iron and selling software (and movies and music is a class of software in the entertainment industry). Microsoft seems to be in the business of selling operating systems and support services and gaming hardware.
As was shown in the dot com days, very, very few firms in the Linux business had clue one as to what business they were really in - a trend that continues.
Google, as I know you know, is in the advertising business. Advertising goes well with free Android apps and they're happy to have that spread.
If the dockable tablet becomes the norm and supplants laptops, who knows what the future may bring?
But if brings more Android, that's still a win in the Linux column.
If Google had released a Linux for traditional PCs (not backing down from my desktop statement), I've no doubt it would be met with the same outcry.
Then there was the infamous Dell laptop that cost more to remove Windows and have it shipped with Linux (and not always working at that).
Apple is the business of moving iron and selling software (and movies and music is a class of software in the entertainment industry). Microsoft seems to be in the business of selling operating systems and support services and gaming hardware.
As was shown in the dot com days, very, very few firms in the Linux business had clue one as to what business they were really in - a trend that continues.
Google, as I know you know, is in the advertising business. Advertising goes well with free Android apps and they're happy to have that spread.
If the dockable tablet becomes the norm and supplants laptops, who knows what the future may bring?
But if brings more Android, that's still a win in the Linux column.
A.Nonymous
Extreme Android User
The thing with that is, smartphone users change their devices every one to two years, allowing for sudden market shifts, and its also a growing market.
The desktop market is saturated, and people replace their computers every four to six years. If Google had given their backing to a Linux based desktop OS, or created one (No.. not Chrome OS
I don't know if even a Google OS would prompt people to switch. You have to give people a reason to switch. Apple and Google gave people reasons to switch to smartphones from dumb phones and to iOS and Android from BB. I think you'd be extremely hard pressed to roll out anything on the desktop that would make people want to switch to it.
androidforums_sj
Newbie
"this year will be the year of the Linux Desktop!"
How common that's been said year in year out, decade after decade.
Unfortunately, Microsoft/Apple got there first to mass market years before Linux did.
The mobile platform however, is still in it's infancy. Tablets and smart phones are still a relatively new thing. The first HUGE splash came from RIM's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone, and Android is relatively recent - just the past few years.
However, Android's adoption compared to the other, closed source vendors is huge now:
Android and iOS controls 71% US Smartphones market share [Report]|TechLeash
It's apparent Android is becoming the dominant player in the mobile market, and this next year will see a strong attack on the tablet and even netbook markets.
I think 2012 is the year of Linux in the mobile market - the tipping point where Apple, RIM and Microsoft find Android/Linux as dominant to stay.
Here's to a new year and Android Dominance!
I agree, and with the release of Zorin OS 5, it looks like Linux has not only made it, but surpassed many OS's out there.
I'm sure Zorin is a nice transition - every one of those over time have just gotten better and better.
I understand after googling it that it's based on Ubuntu, Ubuntu being the second largest distro with about 20 million users so far.
Bob Maxey
Android Expert
I will never seriously use Linux because it is too costly. I use Windows because it came with the laptop and quite likely, I'll never upgrade to Windows 8. That is too costly, too. No learning curve for me with Windows 8, even though I have not looked at it. I could certainly navigate and muddle through Linux if I had to. The Windows upgrade will not be free and since time is money, changing my OS costs me, so Linux is not free.
There is a learning curve with Linux and for some of us, time is money. I do not want to learn something like Ubuntu because I fail to see the need. Winders works well and it has always worked well. That's the bottom line; you find what works and be happy. I loved Windows 3.1, Windows For Workgroups, Windows 95, 98, Millennium Edition and all the rest. I never, ever had the problems so many on the web report.
So for me, 2012 will be the year of "the same old tried and true Windows."
The very first time I seriously fiddled with Linux was with (I think) SUSE. It came in a little green box of CDs. Before that, I bought a book and it came with a CD. This was back in the early days. What kept people from using it was installing it was a big problem. Not push-button simple or nice GUI. I think there were several GUI programs on the CD and installing them took some effort.
This leads me to believe that many people that praise Linux would hate it if installing and configuring it took effort.
The reason I wanted to run it was I fell in love with the GUI used on our HP In-Circuit-Testers. A lovely grey color; it reminded me of NeXT. I could not install it because it was UNIX. I now have the GUI I always liked running as we speak. I use WinStep Extreme and a cool theme.
I have to believe that the look and feel is what draws people to Ubuntu and they do not know that if they are more interested in the look and feel, there is no shortage of replacement shells. More than a dozen and tens of thousands of themes. I once used HoverDesk, and that was a very cool thing.
The few times I have tried Ubuntu, it was a disappointment and so I say, why bother? Yes, it is free, but free does not mean better. I suspect many Ubuntu lovers want something for free so they go Ubuntu or some other distro. I think they fail to grasp that they paid for Windows when they bought their PC. So they talk about free Ubuntu. Not everyone mind you.
Or they are swayed by others and they are absolutely convinced Ubuntu is better than Windows. When you get down to brass tacks, many of these users that praise Ubuntu really do not know enough about computers and software to actually know if Ubuntu is better.
I do not think this is the "Year of Linux." But that matters little; DL it, install it and use it if you like. For me, I'll likely die before I install something other than Windows because for me, Windows is better; clearly and unarguably better.
There is a learning curve with Linux and for some of us, time is money. I do not want to learn something like Ubuntu because I fail to see the need. Winders works well and it has always worked well. That's the bottom line; you find what works and be happy. I loved Windows 3.1, Windows For Workgroups, Windows 95, 98, Millennium Edition and all the rest. I never, ever had the problems so many on the web report.
So for me, 2012 will be the year of "the same old tried and true Windows."
The very first time I seriously fiddled with Linux was with (I think) SUSE. It came in a little green box of CDs. Before that, I bought a book and it came with a CD. This was back in the early days. What kept people from using it was installing it was a big problem. Not push-button simple or nice GUI. I think there were several GUI programs on the CD and installing them took some effort.
This leads me to believe that many people that praise Linux would hate it if installing and configuring it took effort.
The reason I wanted to run it was I fell in love with the GUI used on our HP In-Circuit-Testers. A lovely grey color; it reminded me of NeXT. I could not install it because it was UNIX. I now have the GUI I always liked running as we speak. I use WinStep Extreme and a cool theme.
I have to believe that the look and feel is what draws people to Ubuntu and they do not know that if they are more interested in the look and feel, there is no shortage of replacement shells. More than a dozen and tens of thousands of themes. I once used HoverDesk, and that was a very cool thing.
The few times I have tried Ubuntu, it was a disappointment and so I say, why bother? Yes, it is free, but free does not mean better. I suspect many Ubuntu lovers want something for free so they go Ubuntu or some other distro. I think they fail to grasp that they paid for Windows when they bought their PC. So they talk about free Ubuntu. Not everyone mind you.
Or they are swayed by others and they are absolutely convinced Ubuntu is better than Windows. When you get down to brass tacks, many of these users that praise Ubuntu really do not know enough about computers and software to actually know if Ubuntu is better.
I do not think this is the "Year of Linux." But that matters little; DL it, install it and use it if you like. For me, I'll likely die before I install something other than Windows because for me, Windows is better; clearly and unarguably better.
A.Nonymous
Extreme Android User
You did not just say you loved Windows ME. Windows ME was a piece of crap. I regret every penny I spent on that when I was a poor, broke college student. I tried to make it work and ended up going back to 98.
Android.
Still Linux.
Still Linux.
A.Nonymous
Extreme Android User
I didn't care for Win 8 either. I don't like the Metro interface on a desktop at all and if you switch it back to the traditional theme, then why am I using Windows 8 instead of Windows 7? There's no reason for me to upgrade to it.
Linux. 2012.
Not which Windows is the worst.
Not which Windows is the worst.
9to5cynic
Android Expert
Ubuntu 12.04 has announced that this LTS version will be supported for 5 years (like the server edition) because [according to Canonical], businesses wanted longer support...
Just some food for thought.
SUroot
Extreme Android User
Whatever I want in my posts as long as it isn't breaking any site laws.
... unless you say please
Please stay mostly on topic without becoming party to a thread hijacking.
Thanks!
Thanks!