17 ms·

it's the same waffle we've been hearing for years. I am running Ubuntu 13.10, but leaving OSX aside, there's no way in hell Linux is going to make a dent in the

by hnriot 13y ago

it's the same waffle we've been hearing for years. I am running Ubuntu 13.10, but leaving OSX aside, there's no way in hell Linux is going to make a dent in the desktop market. It wont be linx, it will be some future OS, possible Android that replaces Windows. I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath - to the point that to the user, it doesn't matter much.

shawnz 13y ago
> in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath The difference is that Linux isn't, and doesn't claim to be a whole system. For example, Android isn't Ubuntu, but Android and Ubuntu are equally Linux. EDIT: I am not trying to make the "Linux is just a kernel" point here. Android is by no means a "traditional" distribution of Linux, but I just don't see why that makes it "not Linux". Busybox is available for it (Android is designed for embedded systems, after all) so what's the difference?
- TallGuyShort 13y ago
  Okay then, GNU/Linux.
- mercurial 13y ago
  Yeah, "Linux is a kernel" and all that. Except, for many of us, Linux is also an ecosystem, and the Android ecosystem is definitely not that ecosystem.
Touche 13y ago
> I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath - to the point that to the user, it doesn't matter much. So you define Linux as what? X11? We'll that's going away, so that can't be it. Gnome and KDE? There's also Unity now and Elementary so that's too restrictive... so what exactly is Linux to the user?
mrb 13y ago
"I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath" Utterly false. Terrible comparison. OS X merely took parts of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and the Mach kernel. The result is some codebase that is very different from any kernel, and that is not following at all the current developments of the FreeBSD/NetBSD/Mach kernels. Whereas Android's Linux kernel shares ~95% of its lines of code with the stock Linux kernel source from kernel.org. Every time Linus releases a new kernel, the Android developers merge their branch with Linus' branch, almost on a month-to-month basis. Android is Linux (the kernel). Period.
- GalacticDomin8r 13y ago
  > Terrible comparison. Not as bad as you make it seem. While OS X's kernel is indeed something of a mutt, so is its userland. See here for one reference on the topic: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-advocacy/2008-August/003674.html http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-advocacy/2008-Aug... Now Android for the most part may have a mostly pure kernel(although I wonder how you come up with ~95%), but it's userland is mostly BSD based(see libc, libm, etc) as is OS X. > OS X merely took parts of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and the Mach kernel. Since this is also a large part of how the Linux kernel evolved minus Mach/XNU, I'm not clear where your beef is.

by hnriot 13y ago

shawnz 13y ago

> in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath The difference is that Linux isn't, and doesn't claim to be a whole system. For example, Android isn't Ubuntu, but Android and Ubuntu are equally Linux. EDIT: I am not trying to make the "Linux is just a kernel" point here. Android is by no means a "traditional" distribution of Linux, but I just don't see why that makes it "not Linux". Busybox is available for it (Android is designed for embedded systems, after all) so what's the difference?

TallGuyShort 13y ago
Okay then, GNU/Linux.
mercurial 13y ago
Yeah, "Linux is a kernel" and all that. Except, for many of us, Linux is also an ecosystem, and the Android ecosystem is definitely not that ecosystem.

Touche 13y ago

> I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath - to the point that to the user, it doesn't matter much. So you define Linux as what? X11? We'll that's going away, so that can't be it. Gnome and KDE? There's also Unity now and Elementary so that's too restrictive... so what exactly is Linux to the user?

mrb 13y ago

"I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath" Utterly false. Terrible comparison. OS X merely took parts of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and the Mach kernel. The result is some codebase that is very different from any kernel, and that is not following at all the current developments of the FreeBSD/NetBSD/Mach kernels. Whereas Android's Linux kernel shares ~95% of its lines of code with the stock Linux kernel source from kernel.org. Every time Linus releases a new kernel, the Android developers merge their branch with Linus' branch, almost on a month-to-month basis. Android is Linux (the kernel). Period.

GalacticDomin8r 13y ago
> Terrible comparison. Not as bad as you make it seem. While OS X's kernel is indeed something of a mutt, so is its userland. See here for one reference on the topic: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-advocacy/2008-August/003674.html http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-advocacy/2008-Aug... Now Android for the most part may have a mostly pure kernel(although I wonder how you come up with ~95%), but it's userland is mostly BSD based(see libc, libm, etc) as is OS X. > OS X merely took parts of FreeBSD, NetBSD, and the Mach kernel. Since this is also a large part of how the Linux kernel evolved minus Mach/XNU, I'm not clear where your beef is.