Whether these succeed or not, I simply don't get it.
Android is open source. Fork it. Improve it. Why build something completely new. Is it just to keep a brand name like "Ubuntu" and "Firefox"?
Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
11–20 of 44 posts
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#12Wouldn't a real Linux OS on a smartphone be every developer's dream? I will definitely get a Ubuntu phone. Think about the the variety of options you'll have...
However I am not sure if the mainstream market will be as interested.
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#13Whether these succeed or not, I simply don't get it. Android is open source. Fork it. Improve it. Why build something completely new. Is it just to keep a brand name like "Ubuntu" and "Firefox"?
As far as I understand it actually is a fork of Android in the sense that it runs the Android-flavoured Linux kernel.
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#14Pros: - A real linux OS phone, more open than Android - Ubuntu getting more popularity - Gives Apple, Google, MS less control/power, users more diversity Cons: - Canonical likes making big mistakes (mandatory Unity interface, Amazon search/spyware integration)
> mandatory Unity interface Mandatory? sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop * log out * choose kde * log in
Who needs a WM anyway? Just use the console.
./call 01
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#15Whether these succeed or not, I simply don't get it. Android is open source. Fork it. Improve it. Why build something completely new. Is it just to keep a brand name like "Ubuntu" and "Firefox"?
As far as I understand it actually is a fork of Android in the sense that it runs the Android-flavoured Linux kernel.
This, and also Android's overall userspace design is kind of idiosyncratic. I'm sure there are other legitimate designs of a Linux-based mobile OS, which don't rely so heavily on Java and a virtual machine. Ubuntu will be Qt-based, for example. That throws out the possibility to reuse the Android application framework.
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#16This is the first headline I've ever seen that violates Betteridge's law of headlines[0], which states that any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by "no". But in the case of this headline, the answer is a resounding "yes". [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines
How about we generalize the law? The answer to headlines ending in a question mark is whatever the rhetoric question is not suggesting?
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#17Do we really need competition ?
Of course we need competition. Android is a nice platform - I use it every day. But I also would very much like one or more vanilla GNU/Linux phone platforms. The Linux ecosystem has benefited a great deal from having multiple distros(fedora,debian,gentoo...) with each their own focus. As long as they will agree on some common standards like freedesktop.org - diversity is a win.
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
As far as I understand it actually is a fork of Android in the sense that it runs the Android-flavoured Linux kernel.
This, and also Android's overall userspace design is kind of idiosyncratic. I'm sure there are other legitimate designs of a Linux-based mobile OS, which don't rely so heavily on Java and a virtual machine. Ubuntu will be Qt-based, for example. That throws out the possibility to reuse the Android application framework.
Ok, but there's nothing that prevents them from implementing QT on Android using the NDK. You don't have to throw out all application compatibility to achieve something like this.
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#19Wouldn't a real Linux OS on a smartphone be every developer's dream? I will definitely get a Ubuntu phone. Think about the the variety of options you'll have... However I am not sure if the mainstream market will be as interested.
Android is a real Linux
Re: Do We Really Need Another Smartphone OS?
#20Do we really need another model of mobile phone?
Do we really need more screen sizes?
Do we really need more apps?
That's an inane question, and the article doesn't even try to answer it.