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Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

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Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#111

Post by Jonnax »

morganvachon wrote: post #77
tinco wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swearing? Don't you mean jubilating? Isn't Ubuntu on Samsung Galaxy phones exactly what he would want?

Who said it will be Ubuntu? If this is anything like past attempts at a Linux desktop running from a mobile phone, it will be a Samsung optimized (i.e. locked down) half baked chroot monstrosity with limited tools and locked to the phone's ancient, bastardized kernel with zero security updates from launch forward. I think it would be awesome and amazing if I was completely wrong about all of that, but I'm not holding…

Here's a photo of it running Ubuntu 16.04 at a Samsung booth with a 4.4. Kernel.

https://twitter.com/TizenHelper/status/920507238485233664

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#112

Post by baldfat »

JorgeGT wrote: post #10

It's quite interesting that with the power of today's mobile devices (multicore 1GHz+ CPUs, GPUs, 2Gb+ RAM) we still don't have a standardized interface to plug them into desktop peripherals and launch a desktop OS/GUI. One would thing that such an universal interface would quickly become a standard offering in airports, hotels, libraries, conferences, etc.

AT&T killed that idea fast 6 years ago. When the Motorola Atrix came out with the ability to do that AT&T charge a $20 tethering fee to use the laptop dock with the phone! That blew my mind. The phone wasn't tethering data to anything but itself. https://www.wired.com/2011/03/motorola-atrix/

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#113

Post by herbst »

camillomiller wrote: post #8

Maybe 2018 is finally the year of the Linux desktop. Wait... :) Jokes aside, I can see how this would be useful for sysadmin and devs - bring along your smartphone and you're set - but this would never fly for a general, even if geeky, public. Very nice approach though, curious to see where this ends up going.

To be fair this is already what we do. Android already IS linux. You can install plenty of scripting environments like Ruby or Python while having access to the underlaying Linux system which is only partly crippled.

Personally i see this more as a marketing thing from Samsung than anything else.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#114

Post by nolok »

amigoingtodie wrote: post #93
narrowtux wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These things take time. Remember that blue screen when they announced USB plug and play support in Windows 98?

Windows 98 'Second Edition' supported USB. I just want to say that Windows 10 does feel like Windows Millenium (an 'incomplete' OS).

I don't see how you can say that, unless you've not actually used Windows ME and/or 10 for any significant period of time.

Windows 10 is very well polished. It's also the first windows where most of the user's gripes are stuff added on top of it (telemetry, simplified/restricted update system, ...).

Windows ME, by comparison, was so bad that merely leaving it running would end up causing PC Health crashes.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#115

Post by herbst »

saagarjha wrote: post #55

> Linux on Galaxy allows the latest Samsung Galaxy smartphone users to run their preferred Linux distribution on their smartphones utilizing the same Linux kernel that powers the Android OS to ensure the best possible performance. (emphasis mine) I knew there was a catch somewhere. I seriously doubt there's a technical reason why older Galaxy models can't support running Linux as well. I don't understand why it's so…

Just a side thought. But afaik in all of europe you do not void your warrant when you root your phone or otherwise brick it software sidely. Its usually written somewhere, but afaik not legally enforceable (because as you said, you bought the hardware).

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#116

Post by stephenr »

swiley wrote: post #98
stephenr wrote: post #94

This has exactly the same problem as Microsoft's WSL: they're conflating Linux with "distribution built around GNU userland". I'm not a gnu zealot. I think rms has many faults. But a major company saying "now you can run Linux on android" or "now you can run Linux on Windows subsystem for Linux" is beyond stupid. In the case of Samsung it's Like saying you can make a sandwich out of a sandwich. In the case of Microso…

I've always thought of WSL as "implementing the Linux kernel API on Windows so you can run software written for it." I don't think it's necessarily restricted to GNU it's just that's what most people use and it's what's included.

That is what it is - it's a compatibility layer to provide (a subset of) Linux kernel system calls on Windows, allowing the user to run ELF binaries as-is.

The problem is Microsoft's phrasing. They're calling the distros (eg ubuntu or suse) that can run on WSL sans Linux (as they use the NT kernel w/WSL) "Linux".

https://twitter.com/TechBandCamp/status/920733089948504064

It's like saying "for our lactose intolerant customers we sell cheeseburgers without cheese".

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#117

Post by bluedino »

herbst wrote: post #109
albertgoeswoof wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are almost reaching tipping point here - my laptop is still more powerful than my phone, but only just. If USB-C can really support this connectivity (2 monitors, plus keyboard, mouse and a couple of usb ports), a really great implementation could work well. I think Apple are the only company that can pull this off right now, everyone else is too fragmented to get the hardware/software integration right, and popul…

I dont think this will ever be a thing. For me phones are (sorrily) throw away products, usually not build to last. Computers are expandable, upgradeable machines that you build for your use case and have for years without having to worry to much. Even mac folks have their Macbooks at least twice as long as their phones. So i dont see this happening for any kind of professional use anytime soon. But who knows. Discla…

>> Computers are expandable, upgradeable machines

Not anymore they're not. I haven't bought an upgradeable laptop since 2011.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#118

Post by kagamine »

padraic7a wrote: post #40
kagamine wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I followed the link, but don't quite understand the product. Does Ubuntu Touch OnePlusOne replace the OS on the device? So I buy one of the supported phones listed, and then erase and replace Android with this in it's place? Or it installs on top of?

It replaces the OS, so you will lose everything you currently have on the phone. The installation process is similar to flashing a ROM and you can choose to reflash and move back to Android in the future.

Actually sounds good. I'm tired of Apple devices going in a direction that doesn't fit with what I want, and have never been impressed with Android.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#119

Post by nolok »

stephenr wrote: post #94

This has exactly the same problem as Microsoft's WSL: they're conflating Linux with "distribution built around GNU userland". I'm not a gnu zealot. I think rms has many faults. But a major company saying "now you can run Linux on android" or "now you can run Linux on Windows subsystem for Linux" is beyond stupid. In the case of Samsung it's Like saying you can make a sandwich out of a sandwich. In the case of Microso…

And now you've just understood why the gnu zealots (whom I'm not a part of either) insisted on the proper GNU/Linux naming, because they saw it coming and now all of it got mixed up in the single name "linux" which can mean anything and everything.

The number of things I've spent decades thinking "wow, rms/they're borderline crazy" only to end up with "oh okay, they had a point" is kind of humbling. DRM, encryption, naming, ...

Yet I'm still not in agreement with the GPL and keep thinking MIT or BSD are better. Maybe only to be proved wrong again in the future.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#120

Post by nolok »

stephenr wrote: post #116
swiley wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought of WSL as "implementing the Linux kernel API on Windows so you can run software written for it." I don't think it's necessarily restricted to GNU it's just that's what most people use and it's what's included.

That is what it is - it's a compatibility layer to provide (a subset of) Linux kernel system calls on Windows, allowing the user to run ELF binaries as-is. The problem is Microsoft's phrasing. They're calling the distros (eg ubuntu or suse) that can run on WSL sans Linux (as they use the NT kernel w/WSL) "Linux". https://twitter.com/TechBandCamp/status/920733089948504064 It's like saying "for our lactose intolerant c…

That's because they need the public and marketing name to be understood not by the tech deciders who understands what it is and how it works, but by their boss.

Said boss have very little idea what "kernel compatibility layer" or "running ELF binary as-is" means, but they do get "running linux".

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