MicroxWin Creates Linux Distribution That Runs Debian/Ubuntu & Android Apps 42
An anonymous reader writes VolksPC who developed MicroXwin as a lightweight X Window Server has come up with their own Linux distribution. Setting apart VolksPC's distribution from others is that it's based on both Debian and Android and has the capability to run Debian/Ubuntu/Android apps together in a native ARM experience. The implementation doesn't depend on VNC or other similar solutions of the past that have tried to join desktop apps with mobile Android apps. This distribution is also reportedly compatible with all Android applications. The distribution is expected to begin shipping on an ARM mini-PC stick.
Android on my pi? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Amazon Appstore updates itself (Score:2)
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On the other hand any kind of "app store" in an "enterprise environment" where installing any kind of software is about the last thing "end users" should be doing.
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Unfortunately that cat has long escaped the bag. As a security professional I think that BYOD and the like is a horrible idea, but most organizations have shortsightedly embraced it because a) it's cheaper (no need to pay for mobile devices) and b) they got sick of the bitching and moaning. So now we have a bunch of people running around on the enterprise network with their own devices that they have full control of.
Re: Android on my pi? (Score:1)
The idea that you didn't have already is complete fantasy. In most enterprises you can just go to a random meeting room and plug in. In others, more advanced techniques would be needed but hardly something you could call "hacking". If you can't deal with BYOD then you aren't ready to deal with reality.
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Bullshit. In many enterprises that I've done work with there is 802.1x in place. You do *not* have the ability to just plug in anywhere.
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Broadcom have open-sourced the chip used on the Pi now (as I recall, this is including the source for the Videocore GPU); I think that was always the RPi Foundation's intention, but it's only recently made it through the legal processes.
Folk are working on Android for the Pi - it is coming. Personally, I hope this distro gets ported to the Pi, because having a full Debian instance, with the ability to run Android apps within a window (much like Wine does for Windows applications within Linux), gives users
Re:Android on my pi? (Score:4, Interesting)
They haven't opensource it. What they did is release documentation for it, and the RPi foundation has hired someone to work on an open source driver.
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Ah, my mistake. Hopefully it won't be too long before there is no more reliance on a closed-source blob though.
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Apparently there are no stable releases of Android.
Fixed That For You.
Fixed that for your Apple-owned SMM sockpuppet handlers, you mean.
Nearly three billion Android devices are currently active, compared to around 500 million of your adored iOS.
That means there's more than enough data available to determine which is the more stable OS.
And unsurprisingly to everyone except Apple shills, Crittercism has found that even though iOS 7.1 is Apple’s most stable release yet, the latest software still has a crash rate of 1.6%.
On the other hand, Android versions KitKat,
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Unfortunately not. What is going to happen is, a bunch of marketing clowns are going to latch onto that term, and publicize it far and wide before the year is out.
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AC above beat me to it - my thoughts exactly.
Take designed-for-desktop/laptop-mouse+keyboard Linux stuff and bolt it together with designed-for-mobile+touch+one-app-fullscreen Android stuff on the same device.
Nope, can't see what could possibly go wrong, sure it will be entirely intuitive and seamless... after all Win 8 was.
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You have a point. Of course, there are differences. This gives you desktop apps on ARM, unlike Windows RT. And the mobile apps you get are Android ones - i.e., there are mobile apps. The joining of the two is just as awkward (perhaps even more so) than in windows 8. But at least you're getting the apps you want - and oh, by the way, it's all free. It would be nicer if they somehow managed to run Android apps windowed on the Debian side - kind of like Windows 9 is promising to do...
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In other words: "because Microsoft can't do then no one can".
The entire history of computing pretty much points out how wrong that proposition is. It's more like "If Micrososft can't do it then EVERYONE ELSE can, will, and have done it for 10 years prior".
Just use a little intelligence or barring that, allow the end user to decide which mode to operate. Also don't GUT one of the modes in question while you're at it.
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In other words: "because Microsoft can't do then no one can".
It's not just Microsoft there's also Ubuntu's Unity and the pretty much universally unused Launchpad in OSX then you have this VolksPC implementation which if anything is even more jarring than Windows 8. There's been hardware to do it with for years now, even Microsoft's own Surface Pro line can run Linux and Android. I'm not saying it's impossible just because nobody has done it, but there's been ample time and still nobody has got it even close yet.
It's more like "If Micrososft can't do it then EVERYONE ELSE can, will, and have done it for 10 years prior".
So where is it then?
RPI (Score:1)
Somebody try this on a Raspberry Pi!
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"Just another WordPress site" (Score:3, Informative)
When I go to the main volkspc.org url, it's titled 'Just another WordPress site". When I look at all the links on the page, it's essentially several categories of vapor. Some photoshopped images of 'hardware' and even a 'software' page with a single YouTube video to watch, and no links whatsoever to any software. The only link on the FAQ page is titled 'unified distribution' but just loops back to the 'sofware' page with it's YouTube video.
It certainly looks like 'just another WordPress site' to me.
Can't await (Score:2)
Something like this should run on ebook readers like the Nook or the Kobo.
That would be something!
Move along (Score:4, Informative)
No software downloads, and apparently not open source nor free software. And also their hardware is not yet available.
Who tagged this "Ubuntu"? No relation.
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Maybe they learned promotion from Mark Shuttlesworth.
Two words: No Fuck! (Score:2)