If you mean, "How similar is (what we're calling) Android in spirit to gnu/Linux?" The answer is "not very". The Android "desktop" is welded and locked onto a very crippled underlying linux os. Google and the other corporate overlords of Android have gone to great lengths to keep the average user from gaining root access to the underlying platform, much less allowing the average user to swap the Android veneer for a Gnome or KDE frontend or create applications that are outside of the Dalvik VM.
The bottom line: Android is not free- no more than the iPhone OS is or one of Micro$ofts Oses. Good luck, have fun...but don't expect too much! On May 7, 5:35 pm, Disconnect <[email protected]> wrote: > Although the first part of the answer is perfect :) .... > > > > On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 5:16 PM, Mark Murphy <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > How many of the freedoms that we've gotten used to using other Linux > > > frontends ("desktops"), such as xfce, Gnome, KDE are available with > > > the Android frontend? > > > As many as there are for TiVo, Linksys routers, or other appliances based > > on Linux. > > > In other words, none that are officially supported, but you are welcome to > > try to hack whatever you want. All you need is a device capable of > > accepting alternative firmware. > > > > Is it possible to run ANY simple linux apps from > > > a terminal window in an Android device? > > > What terminal window? > > The one you get from the market, or as part of the AOSP core android build > :) > > (Sorry, couldn't resist.) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Beginners" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
