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Android is Linux... But what kind?

boyo1991

boyo1991

Android Enthusiast
I just recently watched the yearly "Linux sucks" conference, and it got me thinking.. Android was not on their graphs.. Now obviously its because when people think of Linux, were thinking of desktop.

But what kind of Linux would android be put under? My suspicion would have say "Debian obviously..." But I wanna know if anyone has evidence otherwise.. I haven't looked into in enough to really decide.
 
I'd think it would be put under "Android". It is based on the Linux kernel, but the runtime (dalvik or ART) is not part of any Linux distro.

I'll not be drawn on a "Linux sucks conference"...
 
SulkyAndroid17 said:
Do you have any evidence it's Debian based? I'd assume Android is Android and not based on anything.
Click to expand...

I feel you we all say and hate Linux but I Dont love them both just trying to figure out where did the elementary roll in from .never tried them never heard of it .
 
Hadron said:
I'd think it would be put under "Android". It is based on the Android kernel, but the runtime (dalvik or ART) is not part of any Linux distro.

I'll not be drawn on a "Linux socks conference"...
Click to expand...

I think that may roll out in the next conference . but have to say art is doing the good thing on some devices . but dalvik still holding on with others almost like the x11 old still taking a beating and providing a lot of smooth licking I hope they Dont terminate either one on android. Let them both run and maybe add another one .
 
FYI Linux is not an operating system. 'Linux' is just a kernel written by Linus Torvalds. everything else (Dalvik, X11, etc) just ends up being a graphical layer on top of it.

it is like Windows 3.x, DOS was what booted, but Windows was the GUI
 
That's as matter of ongoing debate ;-)

Some quotes:

"Linux is a Unix-like and mostly POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution."

"The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux, which has led to some controversy." - Wikipedia main article, Linux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"calling Linux in general "GNU Linux" I think is just ridiculous" - Linus Torvalds, quoted in Wikipedia article on the subject, GNU/Linux naming controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm with Linus on this :-)
 
I'm with Richard Stallman who definitely goes with the proper name - GNU/Linux - as nearly every desktop system has GNU software to thank for the libraries, X, and the basic apps that make it an operating system.

The Linux kernel crowd hates hearing that - and I've spoken to both them and Richard about it.

As for Android, per usual -

The kernel, via the uname command, and a typical *nix app -

1404541887960.jpg

What filesystem would that be? Anything else from the usual *nix distros?

1404541975597.jpg

And the Android kernel merged back with the main line some time back.

Yeah - so it's not just the kernel but the shell with environment definitions and the libraries in between - including libc as a shared object.

1404542193525.jpg

Yes, it does not have an X desktop. A lot of Linux distributions don't.

Shared object libraries? Including libc? Unix shell? Ext filesystem??

Android = embedded, real-time Linux + Dalvik Virtual Machine (or Android Run Time) + apps that run in the Dalvik (or through ART) and call library services (part of the embedded Linux operating system)

There's nothing to debate.


Android, as stated earlier, is simply another specialized Linux distribution.
 
BRAINZ2013 said:
I think that may roll out in the next conference . but have to say art is doing the good thing on some devices . but dalvik still holding on with others almost like the x11 old still taking a beating and providing a lot of smooth licking I hope they Dont terminate either one on android. Let them both run and maybe add another one .
Click to expand...
Didn't Google say that Android L is going to be ART only?
 
Hadron said:
I'd think it would be put under "Android". It is based on the Android kernel, but the runtime (dalvik or ART) is not part of any Linux distro.

I'll not be drawn on a "Linux sucks conference"...
Click to expand...

No no the conference is actually quite funny. Its meant to address the things that Linux lovers want fixed lol.

And I'd suppose that the only evidence I could supply for any sort of Debian based would be packaging of software.. But its apk, not deb... Soooo I'd have to agree it would be its own new category, alongside Debian and red hat etc because of OEM changes and stuff
 
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