(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Probably most of you already know about "Ubuntu for Android". It looks pretty cool, and I'll probably get it when it's finished, just because I'm a nerd.

How it works - it uses the existing Linux kernel that Android does, and just kind of piggy-backs on top of it, an extra layer of software. Ubuntu sits on your SD card (2 gigs!) and when you plug in your monitor or TV, the Ubuntu interface pops up. You have all of the awesome Linux apps, and you can still get phone calls, and text, etc.

Obviously, Puppy Linux would be a better fit. It would be smaller, faster, more fun. I wonder how such a thing could be done with Puppy.

But then part of me wonders if maybe in the near future "all of the awesome Linux apps" will simply be ported to Android, like Frozen Bubble was. In which case there'd really be no need for this, although it would still be cool.

You know, if you could put XBMC on a Puppy Linux for Android installation on a phone, then you could use this usb-to-hdmi cable to have the full-blown XBMC experience straight from your phone.

Such a thing would put the Ubuntu TV interface to shame, and blow the whole "Ubuntu for Android" concept right out of the water.

It would be awesome. And as more phones become obsolete, that's millions of phones that could be converted into straight-up living room multimedia appliances.

We can do that now with just a pen drive. Perhaps there's the advantage of not having to reboot. If I'm understanding correctly, it doesn't use the touchscreen or any widgets, so you'd need a keyboard/mouse in addition to the monitor.

Android apps are already becoming sophisticated enough for business use, since they readily adapt to screen size and can utilize keyboards.

The problem with ARM-based computers is that they have no standard on hardware extentions, making it hard to find/build stable compatible Linux kernel for them. On the other hand ARM-based devices usually come with Android kernel already matched to the particular hardware.
As I understand, Puppy does not integrate applications with the OS and that should make it possible to create some hardware-independent ARM-Puppy that would work with any Android kernel and just remove all Android stuff, leaving only hardware-dependent kernel.
Is that correct, or I'm missing something?
BTW, my major goal is to run Puppy on under $100 ARM sticks, which are getting more powerful every day (dual 1.6Ghz and quad-cores are coming).
Linux enthusiasts are working hard to build a good kernel for almost every new device and some have great success, but do we really need that?
Why can't we just make a Puppy that runs on existing Android kernels?

Since android uses java, there are a lot of classes that are specifically adapted to the hardware which take advantage of how users interact with their devices (eg, switch from vertical to horizontal orientation). If you just want to run the device in a dock with a standard monitor/keyboard, it shouldn't be a problem.

alexei wrote:Why can't we just make a Puppy that runs on existing Android kernels?

That's what Ubuntu's doing.