> "Google wants to turn Android into a proper desktop operating system"
Years ago (2020 I believe) I received a new laptop and Samsung S20-something for my new job. The laptop was DoA and I was unable to complete any of the internal training courses assigned to me (which required certs and such to access). I remembered DeX and on a whim, plugged the Samsung phone into my hub with Monitor, Keyboard, and mouse. Set Chrome to desktop mode and "worked" entirely on my phone until they replaced the laptop. It worked shockingly well, even back then.
I don't think those types of "desktop mode" features ever took off, myself included, but I really wonder why. If Apple let you run macOS from a tethered iPhone, it just might!
I got a Pixel Fold recently, and using it makes me sad that Windows Phone got cancelled. It was absolutely ahead of its time. I would love to roll an PS that can provide three interface experiences from the same device.
>I don't think those types of "desktop mode" features ever took off, myself included, but I really wonder why.
The Motorola Atrix had this "webtop" thing that was pushed before this sort of tech was ready and it was kinda, well, bad. Slow, glitchy, and hot. Battery life wasn't great either.
It had a really fierce ad campaign though, so I personally know a few people that bought one. I don't remember anyone enjoying it.
> If Apple let you run macOS from a tethered iPhone, it just might!
Maybe that's why? It seems that people just aren't currently capable of fathoming the concept of "one device for everything". If Apple did it though, people might realize it's a good idea. Then again, I think it's unlikely that they will, because they do want to sell you a Mac as well as an iPhone/iPad.
I was able to connect a USB c hub monitor keyboard and Bluetooth mouse into a Pixel 8 Pro with the latest (non beta) version of Android and get a good desktop experience including keyboard shortcut keys.
It will be interesting to see where this goes as Google merged Android and Chrome OS
DeX is pretty much still an option on Samsung tablets, however I don't miss UNIX command line on my tablet, that is why those features never take off, only a minority cares about them.
Some comparison websites do not list DeX for the cheaper S20FE -- AFAIK all S models since then offer it?
Discovered it by chance when trying my Thinkpad's Thunderbolt Dock as a power supply.
That was a ridiculously good moment when I had my full setup (mouse, erg. keyboard, 34" screen) available for my phone.
The articles language is pretty confusing in the way that the author continues to say "the phone can run linux", even after saying that "of course, android is linux".
If the only shortcoming of android, compared to a more typical linux distribution, was that it didn't have a shell interface, that can be solved with the variety of shell programs available for the android environment.
However bigger issues remain unsolved by adding a shell. The configuration of the _actual_ linux kernel used in android being one of the most significant. For instance, typical linux has excellent support for all USB class devices, whereas android disables this functionality. USB-on-the-go only supports specific devices in most android distributions.
Rather than running a linux user space in an android chroot environment, as has been possible to do for years with many embedded linux flavors: archlinuxarm, debian, gentoo, ubuntu, all have documented means of installing a more full featured user space in a chroot over android.
The better/more desirable configuration is to run the more full featured linux kernel and user space directly on the phone h/w, and then run android in a chroot or virtual machine when access to an android only app is needed. Such as this phone:
This allows the android subsystem to be completely shut down when not in use, thus disabling the goggle surveillance and other undesirable features of android.
For any semi-technical phone user, this article is old news. The only thing new about it, is that the chroot is configured by goggle itself, which pretty much insures that the config will be primarily for the benefit of goggle, not the user.
It has enforced isolation so a bunch of things termux kinda does do, won't work to do with file sharing. Not that termux (non rooted) is perfect: Termux can't even make symlinks into externally removable SD cards, if they are formatted for app use and not used for simple file transfer.
What it does termux doesn't do so well, is get to the screen. With termux you seem to wind up needing to vnc to an X server on yourself which is clunky.
You can use Termux:X11 now which is an X server you can target from your Termux shell. I've used it with Andronix distros and plain XFCE inside Termux and it works, ish. I occasionally experience crashes and it gets memory-killed on my phone.
It's always mind-boggling to me that software engineers find ways to screw things up, and then hype up effectively bringing back features that would have existed if they had done nothing at all.
Nonsense - Android's userland does not use GNU, at all; or Linux display servers; or the POSIX standard; or anything but the kernel. Apps on Android have no access, or ability, to directly call kernel functions. Android is deliberately designed so the kernel could, hypothetically, even be replaced one day without breaking anything.
Forcing apps into an abstraction layer from the kernel is good design, preventing kernel quirks from being permanent features. Not using GNU is another design choice which can be debated, but it's completely valid, there's no requirement (moral or otherwise) to use the GNU userland with the Linux kernel. Most embedded devices also eschew the GNU userland by instead using Busybox.
All of which are more expensive decisions than working from existing foundations and building on top of them, not throwing out the baby with the bathwater and demolishing the bathtub, then designing a walk-in shower, adopting a new baby, putting a portable bathtub in the walk-in shower, and refilling it.
Hey, but at least you can remove the tub whenever you want now.
I didn't know they were doing virtualized hardware sufficient to run a Wayland. That could be very very very simple/bad performance, who knows. But it's something!
I really thought this was going to be a terminal only release.
I wonder how much of this work was already existing vs how much was diy. Did they use existing virt-* work? Did they bring in ChromeOS's many many virtualized device sandbox daemons?
Readit News
I don't think those types of "desktop mode" features ever took off, myself included, but I really wonder why. If Apple let you run macOS from a tethered iPhone, it just might!
…cannibalize iPad or Mac sales.
It’s almost insulting that modern iPhones support keyboard, mouse, and monitor via an USB-C hub, yet the experience remains artificially limited.
The Motorola Atrix had this "webtop" thing that was pushed before this sort of tech was ready and it was kinda, well, bad. Slow, glitchy, and hot. Battery life wasn't great either.
It had a really fierce ad campaign though, so I personally know a few people that bought one. I don't remember anyone enjoying it.
Maybe that's why? It seems that people just aren't currently capable of fathoming the concept of "one device for everything". If Apple did it though, people might realize it's a good idea. Then again, I think it's unlikely that they will, because they do want to sell you a Mac as well as an iPhone/iPad.
It will be interesting to see where this goes as Google merged Android and Chrome OS
IIRC, they started handing their contractors Pixel Tabs and docks to work from?
Discovered it by chance when trying my Thinkpad's Thunderbolt Dock as a power supply. That was a ridiculously good moment when I had my full setup (mouse, erg. keyboard, 34" screen) available for my phone.
Looks like the GrapheneOS implementation will be less restricted and will let you run operating systems other than Debian, including Windows 11.
If the only shortcoming of android, compared to a more typical linux distribution, was that it didn't have a shell interface, that can be solved with the variety of shell programs available for the android environment.
However bigger issues remain unsolved by adding a shell. The configuration of the _actual_ linux kernel used in android being one of the most significant. For instance, typical linux has excellent support for all USB class devices, whereas android disables this functionality. USB-on-the-go only supports specific devices in most android distributions.
Rather than running a linux user space in an android chroot environment, as has been possible to do for years with many embedded linux flavors: archlinuxarm, debian, gentoo, ubuntu, all have documented means of installing a more full featured user space in a chroot over android.
The better/more desirable configuration is to run the more full featured linux kernel and user space directly on the phone h/w, and then run android in a chroot or virtual machine when access to an android only app is needed. Such as this phone:
https://furilabs.com/
This allows the android subsystem to be completely shut down when not in use, thus disabling the goggle surveillance and other undesirable features of android.
For any semi-technical phone user, this article is old news. The only thing new about it, is that the chroot is configured by goggle itself, which pretty much insures that the config will be primarily for the benefit of goggle, not the user.
What it does termux doesn't do so well, is get to the screen. With termux you seem to wind up needing to vnc to an X server on yourself which is clunky.
(Of course, some phones, like the Librem 5, runs a Debian derivative as their native OS.)
Forcing apps into an abstraction layer from the kernel is good design, preventing kernel quirks from being permanent features. Not using GNU is another design choice which can be debated, but it's completely valid, there's no requirement (moral or otherwise) to use the GNU userland with the Linux kernel. Most embedded devices also eschew the GNU userland by instead using Busybox.
Hey, but at least you can remove the tub whenever you want now.
That is nonsense.
I really thought this was going to be a terminal only release.
I wonder how much of this work was already existing vs how much was diy. Did they use existing virt-* work? Did they bring in ChromeOS's many many virtualized device sandbox daemons?
Linked from the article: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-16-linux-terminal-d...
The feature is part of AOSP.