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by dragonwriter 2546 days ago
> Linux on the desktop would be a reality already if Linux had a stable driver API.

Linux on the desktop (and other consumer devices) is a reality, via Android and ChromeOS. What's not a reality is consumer use of the userspace tools and desktop environments lots of people mentally associate with Linux, but I doubt very much that's about driver APIs.

1 comments

Ah the typical pat in the back.

ChromeOS and Android could be running on top of Windows kernel and userspace would hardly notice.

And "Android's adoption shows that Linux doesn't need a stable driver ABI" is a funny position to take, given how many problems that's caused Android, to the point where Google is adding a way for vendor drivers to work across versions of Android.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/05/here-comes...

Incidentally, the Windows Subsystem for Linux was reportedly the result of an effort to run Android userspace on top of the Windows Kernel that was at least somewhat successful, so your assertion is completely true.

(https://venturebeat.com/2016/02/25/microsoft-kills-project-a...)