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2012-05-08
, 19:30
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Posts: 4,672 |
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Joined on Jul 2008
@ Springfield, MA, USA
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#1152
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I am posting in this topic just to defeat some general comments that appear sometimes :
- iOS & Android are Linux : no, they are not Linux (but have some Unix/Linux pieces);
- iOS & Android & WP7 have multitasking : no, they do not have multitasking as it is the OS that decides when to close the softwares. They have fast app switching or another funny description.
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2012-05-08
, 23:05
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Posts: 1,269 |
Thanked: 3,961 times |
Joined on May 2011
@ Brazil
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#1153
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- They are Linux in as much as Debian, Red Hat, Slackware or any distribution of Linux is a Linux. They ALL use the Linux kernel as the basis for their operating system and then lay a set of executable code to support the operation of said kernel (i.e. GNU commands on top of Linux, thusly GNU/Linux). If you install Debian or Ubuntu on Android or on Maemo or MeeGo, etc., you're now running a GNU/Linux distribution. Android's code sitting on top of Linux isn't Linux, but neither is Debian's code itself or Red Hat's code itself, for that matter. They each depend on obtaining the Linux kernel in order to run on top of.
- iOS & Android are Linux : no, they are not Linux (but have some Unix/Linux pieces);
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2012-05-08
, 23:58
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Posts: 4,672 |
Thanked: 5,455 times |
Joined on Jul 2008
@ Springfield, MA, USA
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#1154
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I repeat your own words to your comments above :
"but you appear to have technically flawed dismissives and appallingly misconceived explanations with no basis or explanation for them."
I think the Maemo.org debates are useful to everybody learn more what we are using, etc :
- when I wrote :
I should write "Linux distribution" as Android use a (forked) Linux kernel, with the recent Linux 3.3 now including Android contribution to the kernel;
- Google denies that Android is a Linux distribution :
* "In fact, during a presentation at the Google IO conference, Google engineer Patrick Brady stated unambiguously that Android is not Linux";
- the Open Invention Network defintion of Linux system includes more than a thousand packages;
From a programmer's point of view, Linux is approx. the kernel + glibc + X11 window system + libreadline + many other libraries. Without these items, you cannot compile the large majority of Linux softwares from (C/C++) source code. The same source code, apart from dependencies differences, can be compiled on Debian, Fedora, Maemo, etc. Obviously only a smaller subset of softwares can be useful on Maemo due to the need of "hildonizing" the GTK/Qt GUI of the softwares. Take Abiword, Gnumeric, etc, they are available for Maemo, not for Android.
Android has a Linux kernel (forket or not), but :
- no X11 Window manager;
- no glibc compatible (it is bionic, a striped down glibc which is incompatible);
- neither many other Linux distribution components;
so in the end the majority of Linux softwares cannot be compiled to a "vanilla" Android.
I say "vanilla" because there are Android community (so non onfficial) ports of glibc, etc, but you have to root Android, manually install the packages, etc.
I have spent a lot of money in a Asus Transformer TF-101 16GB + Asus Eee Dock. Just to experiment a good Android tablet, the limits of Android, how to develop for it (in Python SL4A), Qt softwares, etc. Even with "Terminal IDE" installed (which includes many Linux softwares like bash, nano, htop, ssh, etc), Android is not a Linux distribution IMHO : no X11, no compatible glibc, no real multitasking, etc. Even IPython is not available due to lack of libreadline...
Conclusion : Android is a Linux based OS but it is not a Linux distribution. Maemo 4 & 5, MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, Tizen, etc, are Linux distributions because they have Linux kernel, X11, glibc, gcc, etc. IMHO. But everyone have the freedom to have a different opinion.
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2012-05-09
, 00:56
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#1155
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2012-05-09
, 01:21
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Posts: 1,269 |
Thanked: 3,961 times |
Joined on May 2011
@ Brazil
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#1156
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It's incredible how much irrelevant evidence you can present while at the same time be completely wrong by premise.
First off, and this needs to be immediately put out there, since when is X11 related to Linux in any way? Plenty of Linux servers don't have X11 at all. Ubuntu Server doesn't even install it by default and X11 doesn't even touch the kernel beyond talking to the frame buffer drivers like any non-X11 graphical app might. A graphical UI manager like X11 is a whole other layer above the kernel and may or may not necessarily be a part of the operating system.
By the by, X11 is working in Android now:
http://my20percent.wordpress.com/201...roid-x-server/
Does that help blur the lines a little for you?
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2012-05-09
, 04:50
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Posts: 20 |
Thanked: 19 times |
Joined on Apr 2012
@ alor star
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#1157
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2012-05-09
, 05:23
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Posts: 1,313 |
Thanked: 2,977 times |
Joined on Jun 2011
@ Finland
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#1158
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the purpose of 'cooperative multitasking' that the OPERATING SYSTEM decides when to halt and execute running software in a fast "app switching or another funny description" method? The other alternative would be "preemptive multitasking", which is where the APPLICATION decides when to allow another application to be able to have a slice of time and the operating system isn't deciding when to halt and execute running software.
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2012-05-09
, 05:25
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Posts: 648 |
Thanked: 650 times |
Joined on Oct 2011
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#1159
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2012-05-09
, 06:15
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Posts: 4,672 |
Thanked: 5,455 times |
Joined on Jul 2008
@ Springfield, MA, USA
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#1160
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But the Linux server installations use a distribution where the X Windows Manager is available to install. It is your choice. Not on Android.
Linux distribution = Linux kernel + X windows manager + many (GNU) libraries and softwares. Many sources use this definition.
And Linux kernel <> Linux distribution.
Yeah, I was aware of this experimental and limited X Windows (from the community) some months ago.
Android is very interesting compared to say, Symbian, due to its Linux origins. But it lacks many Linux features from Maemo/MeeGo.
Hey fatsoo, you are still banging on Nokia. What have they done to you to spew so much gloating hate.
You should refresh your memory about cooperative and preemptive multitasking. Google will help you on that :-). The above description pains my wanna-be geek soul.
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goodbye nokia, investing, last quotes, lumiatard, samsung, specc=ericsson, stock, the elop flop, the flop elop, tizen |
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Now you are talking about paging/swapping.
That's a different topic than multitasking. In this case the
N900 would need more memory. It is not a problem of
multitasking. FM-Radio should not stop if it is swapped,
but I can imagine that there are many applications that do not
handle swapping and real time responsiveness.
Swapspace and swapping is something that you have on all those normal PCs and even there you cannot select, which applications are swapped out (if there are "swap-selectors" this would be new to me. Otoh some interesting new feature for swapping a la
"Swap that silly word document before you swap firefox" ;-) ).
Last edited by PMaff; 2012-05-08 at 17:05.