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This project has been a complete cluster f since the beginning. I was excited when it was announced, though it seemed to get more and more relegated to nothing

This project has been a complete cluster f since the beginning. I was excited when it was announced, though it seemed to get more and more relegated to nothingness since. Now it's going to run in a VM in an already 'slow' os? For what possible reason?

saghm 2y ago
I feel pretty much the same, and I suspect it's not an uncommon take. When it initially became known publicly, it seemed like they might be looking to try to make a legitimate competitor to Linux in the long term, but (and potentially be the first OS to make a compelling case for both desktop and mobile, which I still feel like we haven't seen anyone do yet), but at this point, it seems like they really don't have any concrete plans for it. In hindsight, Fuschia is a pretty good representation of my opinion of Google as a whole since it first became public in 2016; eight years ago it was a lot easier to believe that they had some sort of big-picture idea of what they wanted to do, but nowadays it feels a lot more like their major products are basically just coasting on inertia, and nothing new they try to do has any sort of coherent long-term plan.
IshKebab 2y ago
Android is not a "slow" OS. At least not at the kernel/virtualization level.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Not even at userspace level, people keep forgetting since Android 5 most code has been AOT compiled, and additionally with PGO information, alongside a generational moving GC.
wiseowise 2y ago
What makes Android ‘slow’ OS?
- xethos 2y ago
  Unironically, Google Play Services This isn't my simply having a go at Google, either. Google's assumption is that everyone is on a device released in the last 4 years - it's hard to argue with, and must be all but impossible internally, because the XDA Forums-adjacent geeks that root and ROM, re-flash and ditch GApps are a minority. The actually crazy ones that say "Google Play Services aren't worth it" are a minority of a minority, and by definition wouldn't show up in Google's stats of active devices; without Google Play Services, they aren't going to show up at the mothership. So all the data they have indicates that people don't use slower, older, devices. So Google Play Services is allowed to be heavier, because packing more and more in is both more useful to Google (more data means better traffic predictions, better ad tracking, etc.), and likely easier (I do not need to tell HN that un-optimized software is generally easier and faster to write, and typically preferred by the upper echeleons of management). All this with, as far as Google is concerned, no downside! It chugs on a 6 year old phone, but people don't use those. But even without rooting my previous phones, uninstalling everything Google via ADB gave them new life. The BlackBerry KeyOne, possibly my favourite Android ever, was binned for being slow on release. Dropping Play Services let me use it till I switched to a Linux-first device last year. It's not Android - it's Google's add-ins.
- silisili 2y ago
  I'm not exactly sure, but probably what the sibling comment says. I have been out of the 'scene' for a while, but it used to be possible to go onto XDA and find some Lineage or other debloated image, install it, and the difference was night and day. It felt like you were using a whole new phone, in fact. Aside from Play Services, I assume most of the slowness comes from all the mfg and carrier bloat. A brand new Samsung comes with something like 32 apps I uninstall/disable, some through ADB.

saghm 2y ago

I feel pretty much the same, and I suspect it's not an uncommon take. When it initially became known publicly, it seemed like they might be looking to try to make a legitimate competitor to Linux in the long term, but (and potentially be the first OS to make a compelling case for both desktop and mobile, which I still feel like we haven't seen anyone do yet), but at this point, it seems like they really don't have any concrete plans for it. In hindsight, Fuschia is a pretty good representation of my opinion of Google as a whole since it first became public in 2016; eight years ago it was a lot easier to believe that they had some sort of big-picture idea of what they wanted to do, but nowadays it feels a lot more like their major products are basically just coasting on inertia, and nothing new they try to do has any sort of coherent long-term plan.

IshKebab 2y ago

Android is not a "slow" OS. At least not at the kernel/virtualization level.

pjmlp 2y ago
Not even at userspace level, people keep forgetting since Android 5 most code has been AOT compiled, and additionally with PGO information, alongside a generational moving GC.

wiseowise 2y ago

What makes Android ‘slow’ OS?

xethos 2y ago
Unironically, Google Play Services This isn't my simply having a go at Google, either. Google's assumption is that everyone is on a device released in the last 4 years - it's hard to argue with, and must be all but impossible internally, because the XDA Forums-adjacent geeks that root and ROM, re-flash and ditch GApps are a minority. The actually crazy ones that say "Google Play Services aren't worth it" are a minority of a minority, and by definition wouldn't show up in Google's stats of active devices; without Google Play Services, they aren't going to show up at the mothership. So all the data they have indicates that people don't use slower, older, devices. So Google Play Services is allowed to be heavier, because packing more and more in is both more useful to Google (more data means better traffic predictions, better ad tracking, etc.), and likely easier (I do not need to tell HN that un-optimized software is generally easier and faster to write, and typically preferred by the upper echeleons of management). All this with, as far as Google is concerned, no downside! It chugs on a 6 year old phone, but people don't use those. But even without rooting my previous phones, uninstalling everything Google via ADB gave them new life. The BlackBerry KeyOne, possibly my favourite Android ever, was binned for being slow on release. Dropping Play Services let me use it till I switched to a Linux-first device last year. It's not Android - it's Google's add-ins.
silisili 2y ago
I'm not exactly sure, but probably what the sibling comment says. I have been out of the 'scene' for a while, but it used to be possible to go onto XDA and find some Lineage or other debloated image, install it, and the difference was night and day. It felt like you were using a whole new phone, in fact. Aside from Play Services, I assume most of the slowness comes from all the mfg and carrier bloat. A brand new Samsung comes with something like 32 apps I uninstall/disable, some through ADB.