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Hmm things will get interesting if the Android netbook distribution is closely compatible (or totally) with the phone version. If you can easily run apps built

Hmm things will get interesting if the Android netbook distribution is closely compatible (or totally) with the phone version. If you can easily run apps built for phones on a netbook and vice versa then I'd totally whip out Eclipse and start hammering out cheap Android apps. The problem will be if this fragments the Android SDK to a point where end user's cant tell if the application is going to work correctly on their device. And of course another blow to Linux on the desktop because here is another platform to help you avoid the perils of the Linux GUI.

berntb 17y ago
Android apps under Linux is not new: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/canonical-developers-aim-to-make-android-apps-run-on-ubuntu.ars http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/canonical-de... (You have a point: To run the same apps on your mobile phone and on your netbook sounds like a big win.)
ZeroGravitas 17y ago
This is not a blow to "Linux" on the desktop or netbook, quite the reverse. While I don't fully understand it's appeal it's a fact that to get Android running with wireless/suspend and all the other fiddly bits you've got to get the lower levels of "Linux" on the hardware. That's all GPL so voila, Gnome/KDE or whatever is pretty much ready to roll. Hardware support is the problem. If they're fixing that while chasing some Android buzz then I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
ido 17y ago
> If you can easily run apps built for phones on a netbook and vice versa then I'd totally whip out Eclipse and start hammering out cheap Android apps. The problem will be if this fragments the Android SDK to a point where end user's cant tell if the application is going to work correctly on their device. Even if it works on both, how do you design an interface that works well on both a 320x480 display and a 1024×600 one? That's 4 times the size, totally different worlds.

berntb 17y ago

Android apps under Linux is not new: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/canonical-developers-aim-to-make-android-apps-run-on-ubuntu.ars http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/canonical-de... (You have a point: To run the same apps on your mobile phone and on your netbook sounds like a big win.)

ZeroGravitas 17y ago

This is not a blow to "Linux" on the desktop or netbook, quite the reverse. While I don't fully understand it's appeal it's a fact that to get Android running with wireless/suspend and all the other fiddly bits you've got to get the lower levels of "Linux" on the hardware. That's all GPL so voila, Gnome/KDE or whatever is pretty much ready to roll. Hardware support is the problem. If they're fixing that while chasing some Android buzz then I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

ido 17y ago

> If you can easily run apps built for phones on a netbook and vice versa then I'd totally whip out Eclipse and start hammering out cheap Android apps. The problem will be if this fragments the Android SDK to a point where end user's cant tell if the application is going to work correctly on their device. Even if it works on both, how do you design an interface that works well on both a 320x480 display and a 1024×600 one? That's 4 times the size, totally different worlds.