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by herbst 3172 days ago
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.
1 comments
CaptSpify 3172 days ago
A shitty, half-assed linux. Until I can just put Debian on natively, and use apt-get for packages without a problem, I want us to keep moving to an actual linux on the phone.

I'm quite eager to get away from android

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herbst 3172 days ago
I would love to get away from Android, but this is helping as much as Ubuntu on Windows is helping to get away from Windows.

If you'd want debian natively this also was possible for a while, next to the option to have it run on a compatibility mode on top of your android kernel but does not even require root. Both methods supporting apt-get, X, and whatever else runs on ARM.

Then there is also the Ubuntu phone project (which i assume is pretty much dead meanwhile) which has no Android in the mix at all. Except a possible compatibility layer for apps.

Also its not a half-assed linux. Its just a linux that uses weird libraries to build their environment on which are not compatible with your desktop like environments.

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CaptSpify 3172 days ago
> I would love to get away from Android, but this is helping as much as Ubuntu on Windows is helping to get away from Windows.

I'm not sure how much this helps, I'm just replying to the idea that we "Android already IS linux". That is technically true, but not practically true. I also don't want Debian to run on top of the android kernel, but I want to use Debian's kernel. The android one is pretty neutered and crappy.

And yes, it is half-assed linux precisely because it's intentionally not compatible with desktop-like environments. Android has different goals than I want out of a phone, and that's perfectly fine, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy with Android as my only option (excluding IOS as that is a different beast altogether).

Just because you are OK with it doesn't mean that I have to be, and every step further we take from Android, the better, IMO.

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