[Sussex] A question of Android

Tue Apr 1 09:57:08 UTC 2014

A member at last week's Rustington LUG came in with some copies of x86
Android 4.4.2 on bootable CD which we could run on our PCs/laptops.
While some machines wouldn't play, most were delighted to have a
rooted copy of Android to explore. Not everything worked (no picture
for TV iplayer, but radio was fine). Most of us found we could rotate
the screen by holding down F9 to F12. At home on the PC without wifi
the wired ethernet turned out to be there anyway.
Makes me think by bringing in Android, we are really just extending
Linux generally to mobile devices. Seems a no brainer to me.

If you want to play I noticed (for instance)
http://liliputing.com/2014/02/android-x86-4-4-release-candidate-run-kitkat-pc.html
which has link
http://www.android-x86.org/download
that seems to have all the business.
Paul

On 31 March 2014 22:33, David Morris <dave at code-fish.co.uk> wrote:
> On 23/02/14 11:55, Steve "Dobbo" Dobson wrote:
>>
>> Hi Gavin
>>
>> On 23/02/14 00:52, Gavin Stevens wrote:
>>>
>>> I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future of the monthly SLUG
>>> moots. In particular I've been looking at the modern landscape of where
>>> Linux is being widely used. I see that Linux is used on the Chromebook
>>> laptops & otherwise it seems to have a relatively small but stable user
>>> base on other laptops & desktop PCs. The area that is often overlooked
>>> is Android. As I have mentioned before at the moots, Android is a Linux
>>> distribution in all but name. It isn't included as a mainstream because
>>> it is customised, using a much modified kernel & Google have chosen to
>>> keep it separate at this time. That said, it still uses the same kernel
>>> version numbers as the standard kernel that you would see on your PC.
>>> Also, a quick look at the directory structure on an Android smartphone
>>> gives the game away completely.
>>
>> Not sure how you would tell the difference from a highly customised *BSD
>> kernel.
>>
>>> It seems to be next to impossible at present to install Android
>>> directly onto your smartphone without it being offered as an update by
>>> the 'phone manufacturer. I am looking forward, however, to getting my
>>> hands on "Ubuntu Touch" (Linux for smartphone) when it is a bit more
>>> developed (It is available now for developers - I don't want to risk
>>> "bricking" my spare 'phone!)
>>
>> I don't agree.  The Android Play Store has a number of apps for doing
>> just this.  It does require you to "root" your phone or tablet, which
>> can be a little more involved if you don't have a Windows box but I've
>> rooted both my Nexus devices (4 & 7) and my Transformer without any real
>> issue.
>>
>> None of them is rooted now.  As I now develop for Android I want stock
>> machines.  But if you're interested in installing installing a third
>> party ROM then check out:
>>
>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.rommanager
>>
>> I haven't use this app, but I have used the recovery appy from
>> ClockworkMod and it worked perfectly.
>>
>>> Can I ask all members to think about how/if we can incorporate Android
>>> into the moots and/or the list? It seems to me that this could be a
>>> very good & relevant way to bring the Linux "message" to more people -
>>> all those people out there with "Linux in their pocket" - and they
>>> don't even know it... How many of them would install Linux on their PC
>>> or laptop if they understood more about the little device they carry
>>> around with them all the time?
>>
>> I have to admit that I'm not sure Android should be included in a LUG.
>> I develop for Android, and I don't think of it as a Linux device, it's
>> an Android device.  Google could replace the Linux OS with a BSD derived
>> one (or even Windows Mobile) and, so long as the Android Java API
>> remained the same I wouldn't notice the difference.
>>
>> One day I might get into programming the device at a lower level.  There
>> is a Native Developers Kit, but if I go there I will then have to worry
>> about hardware things - like what kind of processor has it got.  That's
>> a world of pain I wish to avoid where I can.
>
> If you do go down this route, then look into Qt for Android
> [http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/android-support.html].  Its quite nice and
> simplifies a lot of the things you need to do.  Couple of issues with OpenGL
> widgets atm but should be fixed in 5.3.
>
>>
>> There us some fun hacking that you can do with your Android device.  If
>> you want to get your phone or tablet to talk to more hardware then check
>> out the Android IOIO board.  Your device will need to support OTG I
>> believe, but that is a world of fun that I am likely to get involved in.
>>
>> But is that kind of hacking that should be the remit of a LUG?  I'm not
>> going to say that it shouldn't, but I do question it's relevance as
>> being a big part of it.  For me a LUG is about "using" Linux, what the
>> commands are, is nvi better than emacs (vim is an abortion), how to do
>> stuff and the like.  It isn't about using devices that have Linux
>> embedded within them.
>>
>> If Linux is embedded in a device and you are a user of that device can
>> you really say that you're using Linux?  If they were to embed Linux in
>> a washing machine would you want owners of said washing machines to join
>> the LUG?
>>
>> Embedded Linux is very popular[1], it has a huge chuck of the market
>> share, just under half of those developing embedded systems are
>> developing for Linux.  But developing for Linux was a small part of
>> SLUG's activity when I went regularly.  Has that really changed?
>> Embedding Linux could be included in a LUGs activities, but there is a
>> lot of cross over there with the Maker and electronic hacking
>> communities, and which one is likely to services a "user's" needs?
>>
>> Just my thoughts on this Sunday morning.
>> Steve
>>
>> [1]
>> http://e.ubmelectronics.com/2013EmbeddedStudy/index.html
>>
>
>
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