5 ms·

> My dream would be an android "distribution", that doesn't rely on some murky "update by getting a new image somewhere if you're lucky enough that someone buil

by jhasse 10y ago

> My dream would be an android "distribution", that doesn't rely on some murky "update by getting a new image somewhere if you're lucky enough that someone built one for your device". LineageOS (http://lineageos.org/ http://lineageos.org/) has OTA updates with UI: https://1.f.ix.de/scale/geometry/710x500/q75/imgs/71/2/1/3/6/5/2/2/08-9193144f71369d06.png https://1.f.ix.de/scale/geometry/710x500/q75/imgs/71/2/1/3/6... So your dream has already came true :)

soverance 10y ago
I recently tinkered around with putting LineageOS onto a Samsung Galaxy S3. It was super easy to do, and is a really clean, fast, and efficient operating system. I personally enjoy it. I had previous experience with Cyanogenmod, and LineageOS is way better. Unfortunately, I've got an S6 as my daily user phone, and there is currently no stable version of LineageOS that supports the S6 (as far as I'm aware).
NoGravitas 10y ago
Still has the "if you're lucky enough that someone built one for your device" problem. But that's more the fault of the hardware ecosystem.
- izacus 10y ago
  This is why (just like for any other OS) you buy a device with explicit support. You don't buy a random laptop and then complain why macOS doesn't run on it... do you?
  - NoGravitas 10y ago
    It's not exactly the same, though. You can buy a random laptop and throw Windows on it, even if it's not the version it shipped with. You can throw Linux on it, and it will almost certainly be usable; sound may not work, it may not resume from suspend, and graphics may be unaccelerated, but if will basically work. If you're buying a new device, then yes, certainly you should shop for one that's supported on LineageOS or OmniROM, or whatever. But one of the uses of custom ROMs has been extending the life of older devices, and that ecosystem is very spotty.
    - ams6110 10y ago
      It is exactly the same. I put Windows 10 on an older Dell laptop. It mostly works, but it's not "supported" and I get blue-screens once in a while. There's just no practical way to keep supporting arbitrarily old devices, even for a company like Microsoft.
      - freehunter 10y ago
        If it's exactly the same, I will hand you an unbranded phone with no OS and see if you can get Android running on it. The only machines you can't get Windows running on right now are Chromebooks, so 99% of personal computers will let you pretty easily install Windows in exactly the same fashion you would on any other computer. It might not run well, but it will certainly install. If it's exactly the same, do that with Android on any random phone.
    - fixermark 10y ago
      "Sound may not work" and "but it will basically work" being in the same sentence is more-or-less why Linux is still not yet ready to take on Windows and OSX in the desktop space. What you're describing is similar to the situation with mobile devices, only to a lesser degree. Turns out, making an OS run on hardware is challenging and under-appreciated work, and continuing to gloss over the complexity of it doesn't do solving the problem of open-source OSes any favors.
      - syrrim 10y ago
        If that sounds bad, then wait 'til you hear about Apple's situation - they don't support custom hardware, at all. Not only does sound not work, nothing works. Linux is a step above macOS in that it not only does it work very well when it ships with a computer, it also still works ok when you load it on any other computer. And yet, macOS has more users than linux does... Perhaps support on random computers is a bad metric for the readiness of an OS?
      - michaelmrose 10y ago
        The problem you are describing is at once intractable and a solved problem. Most oems are at best ambivalent about Linux support. If you are lucky they provide enough documentation for volunteer labor to support their hardware otherwise someone has to for free spend their time reverse engineering their pile o' hacks. Since there isn't an inexhaustible well of free labor to throw at other peoples hardware there will always be some hardware that either doesn't work right or doesn't work right out of the box because it requires fix foo that is only available in version bar that is the very latest that hasn't made its way into the stable version yet. If you run a bleeding edge distro you may find that you have the needed version of bar but they broke something else! The solution is to buy hardware with the OS you intend to run in mind. If you are just curious about whether linux might be useful to you the easiest thing in the world to do is try it out either via live usb or virtual machine. If indeed you would like to run linux and it doesn't work with your existing hardware just buy with Linux in mind when you get your next machine. Instead of asking whether linux can meet the impossible standard of running flawlessly on any pos you happen to throw at it ask whether there exists a reasonable range of hardware that meets your needs and expectations. If you approach it that way you will most likely be satisfied.
  - heuller 10y ago
    Generic drivers have made explicit support mostly unnecessary in the desktop space. This doesn't exist on mobile. I've installed Linux effectively on many many pieces of junk whose designers never intended their hardware to be used that way.
hannob 10y ago
The update part is only one piece, the much bigger piece is having a non-device-dependent infrastructure. The idea to build an OS for every device simply doesn't scale.
- jhasse 10y ago
  That's the problem of proprietary drivers ... :(
- ce4 10y ago
  Isnt Google's Fuchsia the project to tackle this very problem? On the other hand it has potential for even more 'closed source'-ness on the handset manufacturer side of Android. And maybe even for other industries, once its market share rises.
mcjiggerlog 10y ago
Wow, that homepage provides zero information on what the project is/does. Much more info on wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS
- nulagrithom 10y ago
  The 'About' page is a dictionary definition of the word 'Lineage': http://lineageos.org/about/ http://lineageos.org/about/ Wow
  - jhasse 10y ago
    I think they are still working on the homepage (LineageOS is pretty new as it was CyanogenMod previously).
- sparkling 10y ago
  LinageOS is the successor of CyanogenMod, they just started a few months ago. The website and everything else is still new and very much work in progress. I guess their main focus was getting up the core infrastructure before making a cute website.
  - s73ver 10y ago
    At the same time, saying "This is who we are, this is what we're doing" is pretty important. It's not part of a "cute" website; it's part of a functional and informative one.
    - stOneskull 10y ago
      i'm sure they will appreciate your help with it.
      - s73ver 10y ago
        No. Just no. This is not one of those, "You're welcome to contribute" things. This is one of the most basic things to have, and for them not to have it reflects extremely poorly on them. This is like not having the build scripts. So do not try to spin it. They very rightly should be criticized for not having that.

by jhasse 10y ago

soverance 10y ago

I recently tinkered around with putting LineageOS onto a Samsung Galaxy S3. It was super easy to do, and is a really clean, fast, and efficient operating system. I personally enjoy it. I had previous experience with Cyanogenmod, and LineageOS is way better. Unfortunately, I've got an S6 as my daily user phone, and there is currently no stable version of LineageOS that supports the S6 (as far as I'm aware).

NoGravitas 10y ago

Still has the "if you're lucky enough that someone built one for your device" problem. But that's more the fault of the hardware ecosystem.

izacus 10y ago
This is why (just like for any other OS) you buy a device with explicit support. You don't buy a random laptop and then complain why macOS doesn't run on it... do you?
- NoGravitas 10y ago
  It's not exactly the same, though. You can buy a random laptop and throw Windows on it, even if it's not the version it shipped with. You can throw Linux on it, and it will almost certainly be usable; sound may not work, it may not resume from suspend, and graphics may be unaccelerated, but if will basically work. If you're buying a new device, then yes, certainly you should shop for one that's supported on LineageOS or OmniROM, or whatever. But one of the uses of custom ROMs has been extending the life of older devices, and that ecosystem is very spotty.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    It is exactly the same. I put Windows 10 on an older Dell laptop. It mostly works, but it's not "supported" and I get blue-screens once in a while. There's just no practical way to keep supporting arbitrarily old devices, even for a company like Microsoft.
    - freehunter 10y ago
      If it's exactly the same, I will hand you an unbranded phone with no OS and see if you can get Android running on it. The only machines you can't get Windows running on right now are Chromebooks, so 99% of personal computers will let you pretty easily install Windows in exactly the same fashion you would on any other computer. It might not run well, but it will certainly install. If it's exactly the same, do that with Android on any random phone.
  - fixermark 10y ago
    "Sound may not work" and "but it will basically work" being in the same sentence is more-or-less why Linux is still not yet ready to take on Windows and OSX in the desktop space. What you're describing is similar to the situation with mobile devices, only to a lesser degree. Turns out, making an OS run on hardware is challenging and under-appreciated work, and continuing to gloss over the complexity of it doesn't do solving the problem of open-source OSes any favors.
    - syrrim 10y ago
      If that sounds bad, then wait 'til you hear about Apple's situation - they don't support custom hardware, at all. Not only does sound not work, nothing works. Linux is a step above macOS in that it not only does it work very well when it ships with a computer, it also still works ok when you load it on any other computer. And yet, macOS has more users than linux does... Perhaps support on random computers is a bad metric for the readiness of an OS?
    - michaelmrose 10y ago
      The problem you are describing is at once intractable and a solved problem. Most oems are at best ambivalent about Linux support. If you are lucky they provide enough documentation for volunteer labor to support their hardware otherwise someone has to for free spend their time reverse engineering their pile o' hacks. Since there isn't an inexhaustible well of free labor to throw at other peoples hardware there will always be some hardware that either doesn't work right or doesn't work right out of the box because it requires fix foo that is only available in version bar that is the very latest that hasn't made its way into the stable version yet. If you run a bleeding edge distro you may find that you have the needed version of bar but they broke something else! The solution is to buy hardware with the OS you intend to run in mind. If you are just curious about whether linux might be useful to you the easiest thing in the world to do is try it out either via live usb or virtual machine. If indeed you would like to run linux and it doesn't work with your existing hardware just buy with Linux in mind when you get your next machine. Instead of asking whether linux can meet the impossible standard of running flawlessly on any pos you happen to throw at it ask whether there exists a reasonable range of hardware that meets your needs and expectations. If you approach it that way you will most likely be satisfied.
- heuller 10y ago
  Generic drivers have made explicit support mostly unnecessary in the desktop space. This doesn't exist on mobile. I've installed Linux effectively on many many pieces of junk whose designers never intended their hardware to be used that way.

hannob 10y ago

The update part is only one piece, the much bigger piece is having a non-device-dependent infrastructure. The idea to build an OS for every device simply doesn't scale.

jhasse 10y ago
That's the problem of proprietary drivers ... :(
ce4 10y ago
Isnt Google's Fuchsia the project to tackle this very problem? On the other hand it has potential for even more 'closed source'-ness on the handset manufacturer side of Android. And maybe even for other industries, once its market share rises.

mcjiggerlog 10y ago

Wow, that homepage provides zero information on what the project is/does. Much more info on wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS

nulagrithom 10y ago
The 'About' page is a dictionary definition of the word 'Lineage': http://lineageos.org/about/ http://lineageos.org/about/ Wow
- jhasse 10y ago
  I think they are still working on the homepage (LineageOS is pretty new as it was CyanogenMod previously).
sparkling 10y ago
LinageOS is the successor of CyanogenMod, they just started a few months ago. The website and everything else is still new and very much work in progress. I guess their main focus was getting up the core infrastructure before making a cute website.
- s73ver 10y ago
  At the same time, saying "This is who we are, this is what we're doing" is pretty important. It's not part of a "cute" website; it's part of a functional and informative one.
  - stOneskull 10y ago
    i'm sure they will appreciate your help with it.
    - s73ver 10y ago
      No. Just no. This is not one of those, "You're welcome to contribute" things. This is one of the most basic things to have, and for them not to have it reflects extremely poorly on them. This is like not having the build scripts. So do not try to spin it. They very rightly should be criticized for not having that.