4 ms·

Android is literally Linux.

• doublesCs 6y ago
  I keep hearing this. How is it that in practice I can get my desktop to do anything I want, but I can't get my phone to do anything I want?
  • NikolaeVarius 6y ago
    Make your desktop send a phone call natively i.e. not LTE/WiFi
    • blendergeek 6y ago
      How do you think phones make phone calls? Because today, they use LTE. However that has nothing to do with whether Android is Linux or whether one can make a desktop do whatever they want.
  • blendergeek 6y ago
    When you run 'Linux' on the desktop, you are running the Linux kernel with GNU userspace. The GNU project would rather you call it GNU/Linux, to pay homage to their hard work. That is too hard to say, so everybody simply says 'Linux'. Android also runs the Linux kernel. However, the tools that allow you 'to do whatever you want' are not what you interact with. Android has its own userspace tools designed by Google. These are what you are familiar with. It used to be possible to use a terminal and sort of interact with an Android device like a desktop Linux computer, but that has slowly been disabled overtime.
    • blacksmith_tb 6y ago
      Quite a bit of "whatever you want" is still possible on Android[1], though ideally you will have root, be comfortable using adb, etc. Ultimately the reason it's easier to do what you want on a linux desktop is that Google isn't actively trying to stop you there... 1: https://hackingpassion.com/android-hacking-with-termux/ https://hackingpassion.com/android-hacking-with-termux/
    • doublesCs 6y ago
      Ouch. You know, I've heard many times about the GNU / Linux conversation but not being an expert I didn't really know where one starts and the other ends. So your comment has been extremely useful for me, thank you. And yes, we should pay more homage to GNU...
  • Cactus2018 6y ago
    This gets to the controversy, "GNU/Linux" vs "Uses the Linux kernel" https://www.fossmint.com/difference-between-android-and-linux/ https://www.fossmint.com/difference-between-android-and-linu... >In Conclusion, Android is not a GNU/Linux distro but its Kernel is Linux and since it is the convention that a collection of software put together around the Linux Kernel is referred to as Linux, Android is Linux. > * Android cannot run any programs that are meant for GNU/Linux distros also; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy
• blendergeek 6y ago
  I believe GP was referring to GNU/Linux, often called 'Desktop Linux' or even just 'Linux'. Due to the fact that 'Linux' beat 'GNU/Linux' in the naming wars in the 90s, most people will never refer to Android as 'Linux'. Rather, Android/Linux is called 'Android'. While you are technically right that Android runs Linux, nobody says that 'Microsoft Word is now available for Linux' because its available on Android.
  • solarkraft 6y ago
    > nobody says that 'Microsoft Word is now available for Linux' because its available on Android Some people do ;-) Since GNU/Linux could also be very different from what most people would consider "Linux" I usually say "standard Linux" (or "standard Linux system" with very pedantic people).
    • blendergeek 6y ago
      This is a good idea. And yes I realize some people do say. that. I should have said 'most people do not say ...'