LETTER OF THE MONTH
Don’t dismiss Android
As a long-time reader of Linux Format, I’ve often noted the inconsistency with which your writers describe the relationship of Android to Linux. Sometimes you describe it as a type of Linux, sometimes as an alternative to Linux. The latter isn’t accurate, as Android is based on the Linux kernel. Android belongs in the distro branch diagram on page 43 of your tribute to 30 years of Linux (LXF280), but it’s not there.
The last page of that article (page 45) is the best example I’ve seen of the inconsistency. Its text includes both “distros, such as Android” and in the image caption “Android (not a distro)”.
It’s both accurate and politically valuable to the Linux world for you to point out at every opportunity that Android is a variant of Linux, as evidence of its impact.
Gregory Miller, Chicago
Neil says…
You’re right that we’re being dismissive and inconsistent, I think we were trying to be funny when we wrote “(not a distro)” in the caption. Android certainly is not an alternative and I don’t think we have said as such. As for the distro element, technically Android is a distro: it’s a specialised distribution usually for a specific model of phone. Although desktop Android x86 fits far more closely to what you’d normally think of as a distro. It was left out of the diagram (with plenty of others) for space, as it’s not a “dekstop” distro as such.
We do have a love/hate relationship with Android due to Google’s permissive nature, but projects such as Lineage OS (based on Android) show just how valuable open source and the use of the Linux kernel are in this area. Just as people love to proclaim how they’ve extended the life of their laptops or desktop PCs, Lineage OS helps to do the same with many mobile devices that would otherwise be left hopelessly out of date software-wise.
Let us know if you’d like to see more Android coverage. We often discuss it, but our general sentiment is people would prefer to see desktop and laptop tutorials.