4 ms·

Google Nexus 7 does run on Linux.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ekianjo 13y ago
Can we stop calling Android Linux just because it shares the Linux kernel? Obviously the author was referring to a GNU/Linux distro.
- hahainternet 13y ago
  No, because it is Linux. The correct solution is to refer to a particular distribution, as many of them make significantly different decisions.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    Android is not just linux. Linux is just the kernel, and everything else running on it has nothing to do with Linux and that's the majority of Android user software and interface. It's just like saying "this human and this bacteria are the same, they have a DNA with the same chemical structure !".
    - hahainternet 13y ago
      My point was not 'call all distributions Linux'. I'm saying that disqualifying Android but keeping Debian is incorrect. Debian, Android, Ubuntu. They are just different Linux distributions.
- tiagobraw 13y ago
  why not? besides having a LINUX kernel, it runs a lot of GNU linux programs such as GNU coreutils...
  - simias 13y ago
    That's not true, the Android userland is not GNU. It's probably possible to compile some of the GNU tools to work with the bionic libc but it's not the default userland. I think it's fair to say Android is running on Linux, it's just not GNU/Linux.
- qznc 13y ago
  I think we should stop calling "all the distros" simply "Linux". There is an Ubuntu operating system and a Fedora operating system. They might short most of the code, but you cannot expect to run programs compiled for to run unmodified on the other.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    Well, yes, but it's certainly way fairer to put Fedora and Ubuntu under the same umbrella than putting Ubuntu and Android in the same basket. GNU/Linux distros have tons of things in common, and you can often use passthrough systems to run packages from one distro on another (not that I'd recommend that).
- alpatters 13y ago
  Well, the kernel does device, process and memory management and that is a likely culprit when looking into power usage.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    Partly. You can see that the memory consumption and the CPU consumption of various GNU/Linux distros can vary enormously even with the same kernel.
- abrahamsen 13y ago
  For this purpose, "Linux" is still too general even when restricting ourself to traditional GNU/Linux distributions. The answer may depend on which exact services a specific distribution runs by default, as well as kernel configuration. I'd be interested to see the answer for an out of the box Ubuntu distribution (latest stable version), as well as the answer for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, to cover the "leading brands" for the consumer and business markets.
- Tobu 13y ago
  Android is Linux, just not desktop Linux. A line which is blurring, with Ubuntu on phones and Android on laptops.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    Desktop Linux is not about the hardware you run it on. Android on laptops is still Android, it's not blurring the line of a GNU/Linux distro at all.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Can we stop calling Android Linux just because it shares the Linux kernel? Obviously the author was referring to a GNU/Linux distro.

hahainternet 13y ago
No, because it is Linux. The correct solution is to refer to a particular distribution, as many of them make significantly different decisions.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Android is not just linux. Linux is just the kernel, and everything else running on it has nothing to do with Linux and that's the majority of Android user software and interface. It's just like saying "this human and this bacteria are the same, they have a DNA with the same chemical structure !".
  - hahainternet 13y ago
    My point was not 'call all distributions Linux'. I'm saying that disqualifying Android but keeping Debian is incorrect. Debian, Android, Ubuntu. They are just different Linux distributions.
tiagobraw 13y ago
why not? besides having a LINUX kernel, it runs a lot of GNU linux programs such as GNU coreutils...
- simias 13y ago
  That's not true, the Android userland is not GNU. It's probably possible to compile some of the GNU tools to work with the bionic libc but it's not the default userland. I think it's fair to say Android is running on Linux, it's just not GNU/Linux.
qznc 13y ago
I think we should stop calling "all the distros" simply "Linux". There is an Ubuntu operating system and a Fedora operating system. They might short most of the code, but you cannot expect to run programs compiled for to run unmodified on the other.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Well, yes, but it's certainly way fairer to put Fedora and Ubuntu under the same umbrella than putting Ubuntu and Android in the same basket. GNU/Linux distros have tons of things in common, and you can often use passthrough systems to run packages from one distro on another (not that I'd recommend that).
alpatters 13y ago
Well, the kernel does device, process and memory management and that is a likely culprit when looking into power usage.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Partly. You can see that the memory consumption and the CPU consumption of various GNU/Linux distros can vary enormously even with the same kernel.
abrahamsen 13y ago
For this purpose, "Linux" is still too general even when restricting ourself to traditional GNU/Linux distributions. The answer may depend on which exact services a specific distribution runs by default, as well as kernel configuration. I'd be interested to see the answer for an out of the box Ubuntu distribution (latest stable version), as well as the answer for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, to cover the "leading brands" for the consumer and business markets.
Tobu 13y ago
Android is Linux, just not desktop Linux. A line which is blurring, with Ubuntu on phones and Android on laptops.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Desktop Linux is not about the hardware you run it on. Android on laptops is still Android, it's not blurring the line of a GNU/Linux distro at all.