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JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

en.jingos.com

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Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#101

Post by tomxor »

wongarsu wrote: post #79
mkl wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solid-State Drive doesn't mention disks.

Hard drives are named that way because they are devices that spin (drive) solid disks. Similarly a floppy drive is the device spinning the floppy. You could argue that the solid state drive "drives" things in the sense of "control", or analogous to how a microcontroller drives its pins. But more likely it's named that way because "drive" has become synonymous with storage, as in "C-Drive".

In OS terminology they are all referred to more abstractly as block devices, i.e everything that is not system memory. But I agree with the OP that calling it ROM makes no sense, it's an SSD, call it what it is.

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#103

Post by kwhitefoot »

villgax wrote: post #6

Is there a linux OS which would be best suited to run on a decade old laptop in portrait mode, mostly for reading PDFs?

I'm running Q4OS Centaurus 32 bit on a 12 year old Acer Aspire One, 1.6 GHz Atom 512 MB ram with the Trinity desktop.

Works nicely. Screen can be rotated not problem.

Q4OS is a Debian derivative (Buster I think): https://q4os.org/

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#104

Post by lvass »

I adore 4:3 screens and definitely see myself using something like this as my next laptop just for this reason, even if I would not touch the screen at all. But it must at least run unmodified debian before I consider buying something like this.

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#106

Post by wongarsu »

tomxor wrote: post #101
wongarsu wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard drives are named that way because they are devices that spin (drive) solid disks. Similarly a floppy drive is the device spinning the floppy. You could argue that the solid state drive "drives" things in the sense of "control", or analogous to how a microcontroller drives its pins. But more likely it's named that way because "drive" has become synonymous with storage, as in "C-Drive".

In OS terminology they are all referred to more abstractly as block devices, i.e everything that is not system memory. But I agree with the OP that calling it ROM makes no sense, it's an SSD, call it what it is.

At least in Linux kernel terminology "block device" and "disk" seem to be used almost interchangably, for example the gendisk structure with the accompanying add_disk, alloc_disk, etc methods for creating block devices [1].

Meanwhile on a API level Windows talks about "disk drives" that abstract over "physical media" [2], but when talking to end users uses "hard drive" as the generic term, like in the sentence "You can install Windows to a hard drive, such as a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive" [3]

1: https://linux-kernel-labs.github.io/refs/heads/master/labs/b...

2: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/d...

3: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactur...

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#107

Post by wongarsu »

tomxor wrote: post #86
wongarsu wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's the solid, flat grey-metallic border that gives it the iPad look. It's clearly distinct from e.g. the Surface (also grey border, but either slanted or with grove) or the Galaxy Tab (rounded towards the rear) or the Lenovo Tab (black, rounded in all directions). Though really there are only so many variations on "flat rectangle with screen" you can do, it's hard to come up with an obvious design that isn'…

sold? flat? grey? > really there are only so many variations on "flat rectangle with screen" you can do Exactly, and of those variation only a subset are widely palatable. In other words solid, grey rectangles are kinda inevitable for what is essentially a consumer hand held computer display... It's like someone calling the concept of a loop a ripoff from C - no.

Well, all while and for loops are ripoffs of Algol.

It is kind of notably how the JingPad looks like an iPad, but doesn't look like a Surface or Galaxy Tab or Lenovo Tab or Amazon Fire HD.

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#109

Post by tomxor »

wongarsu wrote: post #107
tomxor wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sold? flat? grey? > really there are only so many variations on "flat rectangle with screen" you can do Exactly, and of those variation only a subset are widely palatable. In other words solid, grey rectangles are kinda inevitable for what is essentially a consumer hand held computer display... It's like someone calling the concept of a loop a ripoff from C - no.

Well, all while and for loops are ripoffs of Algol. It is kind of notably how the JingPad looks like an iPad, but doesn't look like a Surface or Galaxy Tab or Lenovo Tab or Amazon Fire HD.

> Well, all while and for loops are ripoffs of Algol.

That is my point, C didn't "invent" for loops just like Apple didn't "invent" a near featureless rectangle.

But nether did Algol, for loops are the obvious next step for a conditional jump with a counter. In my analogy arguing about people copying Apple's iPad is like saying "look the syntax is more Algol-like than C-like", who cares, really... making simple and inevitable decisions doesn't mean people can own them and call it design, that's the child version of copyright "I have it so you can't have it".

Re: JingPad A1 – Consumer-level Linux Tablet

#110

Post by travisgriggs »

pratio wrote: post #50
travisgriggs wrote: post #44

As a Linux loving hacker, this sounds fun to play with. But pragmatically, how does something like this stack up against an iPad/iPadOS? If I'm to believe the press, Apple's chips are quite a ways ahead of the competition. And as much as I love developing on Linux running lxqt, I get the impression that display stacks and application development kits are also way behind in terms of efficiency, power use, and just gen…

Apple's chips are definitely faster and as an iPad user of since the first ones available, Apple UI stacks are really good. Especially now, since they're being aligned across the platforms. There's definitely stuff to complain about but I don't think this is meant to be an iPad competitor. There's been a shortage of proper tablets and alternatives in general.

But if this isn't in the same league, is it really an alternative?
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