[Q] Possible full linux distro? - Atrix 4G Android Development

All locked bootloader possibilties asside, in the best possible senario I'd like to know if the webtop could be replaced by a full Debian (or other distro) install without messing up the way it merges with Android and the 10 foot gui.
Now obviously with the phone still waiting to be released I can't and won't expect an actual answer till some devs can get their hands on a rom. So for now, I just want to hear people's opinions on the matter.
Good idea? Bad idea? Waste of a thread? IMPOSSIBLE PIPE DREAM?! What do you guys think?

Motorola reps have indicated that the Webtop environment is Debian based, the Firefox about window mentions Ubuntu - either way I'm hoping the dpkg package manager is present and adding software is as easy as getting root on the device and then adding some packages. If I can do that I won't care about a "full distro" install, I just want to add a few packages for software I'm interested in. And doing so shouldn't interfere with the custom window manager / webtop features.

If dpkg works this would be great.
I think replacing the distro would be complicated cause a lot of features would go missing. For example the freezing of the session.
One thing I don't understand is why Firefox is used instead of Chrome...
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I'm guessing it's because of Firefox's lower memory footprint when dealing with lots of tabs. Hard to say though. I'd prefer Chrome, but Firefox does make some sense in this environment.

The desktop version of Chrome requires an x86/amd64 processor for the V8 Javascript engine. Obviously there are Android / ARM versions of Chrome in existence but you would need to do some porting / tweaking to get the high-performance Javascript engine working, which is one of the main reasons people like Chrome. So I'm sure it was much easier to just take the work Ubuntu had already done to get Firefox running on Linux/ARM.

I wonder if a ChromeOS port could be posible...?

I really think that Ubuntu 's focus on the new touchscreen interface is going to end up being used a lot in something like this in other Android phones and tablets.
I'm currently writing an article about the Atrix for Techerator.com and I think it's going to give some good insight into what the future holds. Check it out in a week or so.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Rastor said:
The desktop version of Chrome requires an x86/amd64 processor for the V8 Javascript engine. Obviously there are Android / ARM versions of Chrome in existence but you would need to do some porting / tweaking to get the high-performance Javascript engine working, which is one of the main reasons people like Chrome. So I'm sure it was much easier to just take the work Ubuntu had already done to get Firefox running on Linux/ARM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You already have webkit in a standard android environment.
If the target arch is armv7+vfp ++, then v8 is on by default.
A full blown chromium would only, probably make sense for a tablet, but not for a phone.

Thanks for correcting me! That's good to know.
I would think full-blown Chromium makes as much sense as full-blown Firefox, which is included.

Rastor said:
Thanks for correcting me! That's good to know.
I would think full-blown Chromium makes as much sense as full-blown Firefox, which is included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Not to mention the convenience of Google Sync.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

I wonder if it will run java?
(MINECRAFT!!!)
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tiwey said:
I wonder if it will run java?
(MINECRAFT!!!)
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need Java, I'd love to be able to run TunerStudioMS to play with the standalone in my car ( danger to the manifold )

Related

JAVA on Android 2.2, is great if possible!

I just wonder if this is possible, the phone can totally replace the slow netbook, as it can nearly replace the internet explorer of Windows.……
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rainbow ng said:
I just wonder if this is possible, the phone can totally replace the slow netbook, as it can nearly replace the internet explorer of Windows.……
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're thinking full java JRE 6, then no, I don't think it's possible in the foreseeable future.
You can run ubuntu on the SGS. Do a forum search. (You do have to use VNC to connect to the ubuntu running on the phone, so it's slowish, but it really is full desktop ubuntu running on your SGS)
the java implementation android (dalvik) has does not contain all stuff from "official JRE" but most of it. i have just recently compiled a quite big java project for android and everything was there except the javax.sound stuff ... but if you are looking to run "normal" jar files without any modification you are out of luck, that will not work with dalvik, you would have to compile it with the android-sdk. i could imagine however that you could get another java-vm running on the phone...
Thread moved to Q&A.

someone sell me on ubuntu..

sigh... okay lets make a list
Ubuntu
Pros
never need to bother with drivers
can read all file formats
no viruses? (who gets these anyway lol)
connects to a new wifi the first time, without the need to reset computer 2-3 times
picture gallery has built in .GIF support
loads way faster
Cons
no where near as much support
hard to find stuff for
if you have a problem, nobody irl even knows what it is
all of your favorite programs dont exist for it
youve used windows your whole life, and can pretty much fix everything yourself
PROS
ubuntu is singled handedly the most supported open source OS with the largest community
Easy to find your favourite Apps alternative (you will never find the same, else they will be paid and not open source)
no need to worry about licensing
CONS
not as much popular Apps development available as Android
just browse or post some question in the ubuntu forums, you'll get answer pretty quickly
soraxd said:
someone sell me on ubuntu..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't realise Ubuntu was a market platform, but I'll try and sell you if you like. If that's you in your avatar then it should be no problem
I use ubuntu all time, only using windows for games. The main reason is because it's very fast, and stays that. Windows becomes slow after time of usage. And it's much more stable.
+1
MarioWaza said:
I use ubuntu all time, only using windows for games. The main reason is because it's very fast, and stays that. Windows becomes slow after time of usage. And it's much more stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here
most games i play in Ubuntu using Wine or VM session
very few games i need to boot back to Win7 to play
Linux & Ubuntu has come a loooooooooong way.
and Ubuntu keeps assimilating most of the nice features found in Android
Do you run two hd's or what is the favored set up? I run a live CD at times but never stay on it long due to compatibility issues...I'm in college and the website isn't friendly with Linux so far.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
rjcormier said:
Do you run two hd's or what is the favored set up? I run a live CD at times but never stay on it long due to compatibility issues...I'm in college and the website isn't friendly with Linux so far.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've yet to find see a website that can not be viewed in Linux
99% pages plays & render just fine on Firefox
the other 1% (IE only pages) they run great on Google Chrome
flash & java everything runs great as well
Well I only use my computer for videos, downloading, music, coding, editing and Internet. Ubuntu has all of that for me, plus the fact it isn't a hungry fat man eating my computer. If I were a gamer though, I'd Prolly stick with windows.
$1 gets you a reply

Webtop - will it work with CM9 or AOKP?

Seriously thinking about getting the lapdock, since the Atrix one is very cheap and easily modified to work with the Droid 4.
Only problem is I don't want to go back to the stock ROM. Has anyone gotten Webtop to work on one of the ICS based CM or AOKP ports?
Also how much control do you get in Webtop. I understand it's basically Ubuntu, but can you install new packages or build your own from source. Is there hardware access to the GPU?
If your on an ICS leak webtop is 3.0, which means it is just tablet ui and is no longer a "separate" system.
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
Oh, that's a bit useless
I was looking forward to the idea of being able to boot into Ubuntu and compile full fat apps to run there.
Still interested in using it with a modded Atrix lapdock though. So does webtop work with AOKP?
not at the moment, because CM9 and AOKP still don't have support for HDMI-out.
What's up all
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
Hey,
take a look at this http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=829571 (i know it's in french but it's the first link i've found about). In this post there is the link to the original source, which is in english. I don't know which point did they reached (testing ? alpha ? beta ?) but it's reaaaaly interesting (and that's a reason why i want to move to a D4 : my htc DZ is not powerful enough to run this).
rubixcube said:
Hey,
take a look at this http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=829571 (i know it's in french but it's the first link i've found about). In this post there is the link to the original source, which is in english. I don't know which point did they reached (testing ? alpha ? beta ?) but it's reaaaaly interesting (and that's a reason why i want to move to a D4 : my htc DZ is not powerful enough to run this).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came to the D4 from a DZ too
That Ubuntu for Android is interesting, I was a little disappointed that webtop on ICS is just Android tablet UI rather than Ubuntu, however it is awesome that if you just use an HDMI cable the phone touchscreen changes into a touchpad!
I wonder how they are getting away with not publishing the source? As soon as a handset turns up for sale with Ubuntu on it, surely the source is going to have to come out or they will be violating the GPL, or is Ubuntu full of propriety closed source crap these days? (It's been a while since I used Linux as a desktop OS, and it was always Debian. Ubuntu didn't exist then)
On a related note, has anyone found a micro-HDMI cable that is actually capable of running at 1080p without corruption and sparklies. I have tried two and both were rubbish.
I got the motorola one from amazon, and it works flawlessly. I also got one from dealsextreme.com, which was considerably cheaper and free shipping, but they're services can be a bit shoddy at time, but I haven't had any big issues with them, and the cord quality is fine, no issues that I can see on my 1080p tv.
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
moah909 said:
I got the motorola one from amazon, and it works flawlessly. I also got one from dealsextreme.com, which was considerably cheaper and free shipping, but they're services can be a bit shoddy at time, but I haven't had any big issues with them, and the cord quality is fine, no issues that I can see on my 1080p tv.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a Motorola one... it was better in that you could actually see the 1080p display, but still flashed and corrupted.
I know my monitor is more sensitive than most to poor quality HDMI devices (most notably the PS3), so I guess I'll just have to look for a fancy one, or a tiny adaptor to use with an existing good cable.
For those interested: I found a way to install Ubuntu on my ICS Droid 4. It comes with Firefox and LibreOffice, some options like installing new apps seem a bit limited (maybe not in the donate version?), but I didn't go into too much detail.
While it's probably not as integrated as the original WebTop was, it might be more flexible in terms of settings/applications. The way to access it is basically to start it via Terminal, then (Android) VNC to view / interact with the desktop.
The link to the free version is: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid
There's also some donation keys available, not sure what features they add. For me, tinkering around with it for 5 minutes is probably all I need it for, and the image is 3.5 GB so I'll probably remove it soon. Still, awesome that it works!
Included screenshot shows some tinkering:
Google Chrome (PC) showing
Airdroid hosted on
Droid 4 showing
Live-feed of
Android VNC client connected to
Ubuntu VNC server running on
Android Ubuntu server, which is also running
Firefox browser showing
Airdroid running on
Droid 4 showing
Outdated live-feed of
Droid 4 running Android
(Disclaimer: the avid AirDroid user will note that you can't log in from 2 separate clients: that's correct, the Firefox AirDroid is actually disconnected, I just moved the 'connection lost' pop-up all the way to the right)

Official Android 4.2 discussion thread(yes it's still called Jellybean)

Now we now with the arrival of the Nexus 4 also comes the newest android version, 4.2. Lets take a look at some of the key aspects/improvements google has made.
Here is a list of changes:
Main features:
Sphere camera
Multiple user profiles
Google Now updated
Quick settings
Gesture typing
Wireless TV Integration
Lockscreen widgets
Daydream screensaver
Pinch to zoom in Gmail
Triple tap to zoom the whole homescreen
Speech output
Gesture mode navigation
Credit to Prawesome here:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1962397
We know the specs of the phone itself but here are some more links with more information regarding Android 4.2:
http://m.gsmarena.com/android_42_is_out_google_keeps_the_jelly_bean_name-news-5016.php
http://m.engadget.com/2012/10/29/google-bumps-android-to-4-2-keeps-jelly-bean-moniker/
About the improved camera features:http://m.engadget.com/2012/10/29/android-photo-sphere-panorama-google/?icid=m_eng_latest_art
System/app Dump?
Has anyone a copy of the 4.2 system apps? I would love to install some like the new keyboard, and I'm sure many others would love it too!
Quick Settings = FINALLY.
This is the one thing I could never live without from AOKP. I might actually not even need a custom ROM this time. I really like their implementation of it too.
I'm looking forward to the Swype like keyboard. I really like Swype, let's see if Google can do better
man i was looking forward to the "project roadrunner" :/ sounded like an awesome idea/concept. still I'm happy with 4.2
loving the multi user and photo sphere(take that apple!)
Michealtbh said:
I'm looking forward to the Swype like keyboard. I really like Swype, let's see if Google can do better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't be able to live my life without Swype. It makes me wonder how I went through life typing one letter at a time But seriously, I really hope it performs better than Swype.
@knolly I'm in the exact same boat as you. I've always wanted that on a phone's stock ROM. After playing around with custom ROMs on my S2, I'm ready to just jump on a Nexus and stay on whatever Google decides to churn out right then and there instead of having to wait for custom ROMs to come just to avoid the poop that Samsung/AT&T likes to put on the builds.
Looks great, it looks like its consolidating jelly bean with all the features a big OS update needs
I wish for something like the leeks said where you could remove the OEM overlay (sense, touchwiz)
Its there going to be update on Android browser.seems like they are only doing it with crook chrome
Sent from my MB886 using xda app-developers app
raydm said:
Its there going to be update on Android browser.seems like they are only doing it with crook chrome
Sent from my MB886 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome IS the default browser.All future updates for android will have Chrome as its default browser.
Prawesome said:
Chrome IS the default browser.All future updates for android will have Chrome as its default browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets hope it runs better on Nexus devices. It can be horrid on other devices
any news on when source will be submitted to the repos, I'm sure we'll all have to wait till the release the devices in a few weeks but It would be nice if we got a system image or something for our faithful devs to hack and slash
raydm said:
Its there going to be update on Android browser.seems like they are only doing it with crook chrome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt the "stock" browser will even be included in the build. I believe the only reason they kept it around on the Galaxy Nexus is because it shipped with it and they didn't want to deal with people losing their browser.
bozzykid said:
I doubt the "stock" browser will even be included in the build. I believe the only reason they kept it around on the Galaxy Nexus is because it shipped with it and they didn't want to deal with people losing their browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest im not really thrilled about this. Chrome seams a little prmature to me. A lot of neat features sure but I regularly experience much better peformance on on the old stock android browser in actual browsing experience. Sure some benchmarks say its better but real world performance has been anything but. Just my 2cents.
jonesin said:
To be honest im not really thrilled about this. Chrome seams a little prmature to me. A lot of neat features sure but I regularly experience much better peformance on on the old stock android browser in actual browsing experience. Sure some benchmarks say its better but real world performance has been anything but. Just my 2cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It totally depends on the hardware it is running on. I can barely use Chrome (and dont) because of my limited hardware. A phone with 2gb ram and a quad core should make for a very buttery experience.
ctfrommn said:
It totally depends on the hardware it is running on. I can barely use Chrome (and dont) because of my limited hardware. A phone with 2gb ram and a quad core should make for a very buttery experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got an overclocked G'nex on JB, 1.35 ghz dual core omap 4410? I would think that should do the trick but no...
You're the first I've ever heard say that about a galaxy nexus.
Sent from my Nexus One using xda premium
It's not to any extent unusable or "slow" but my native browser just rips! Idk maybe its psychological... the biggest place that ive noticed it is not in page renders but in actual usability of the page. What I mean is that they seam to render in about the same time=fast but on chrome I'm unable to selct links and there is usually some delay before I can scroll around or zoom where as on the native browser I can be halfway through a page load and already selcting another link...
eep2378 said:
Lets hope it runs better on Nexus devices. It can be horrid on other devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep...Chrome isn't nearly as fast as it was on PC..
Controversies,controversies everywhere :what:
I mostly prefer the stock browser myself, still use flash quite a bit (though i guess that it will probably be somewhat if not entirely broken on 4.2/Nexus 4).
But for other tasks i've preferred Chrome, especially with the syncing of pages and the fact it seems to handle pages much better than the stock browser did, especially in regards to forum attachements, download sites, etc.
jonesin said:
any news on when source will be submitted to the repos, I'm sure we'll all have to wait till the release the devices in a few weeks but It would be nice if we got a system image or something for our faithful devs to hack and slash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am guessing the source will be released the same day as the phone ships. That's how it has worked in the past, isn't it ?
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

Ubuntu for Android App

On the Indiegogo page for the Ubuntu Edge, you can see a video of a proof of concept for the Ubuntu Desktop.
She used an app on a stock Nexus 4 (if I remember correctly, she says AOSP) and just launch it like that on Android and sent it to the screen.
Am I the only one who find this more amazing than running Ubuntu Touch on a Android phone ?
If you take a look at the size of the ARM Ubuntu version, you have a 500 MB file and I was wondering how Android can just load like that Ubuntu and run it along Android ?
Cheers.
Korgall said:
I was wondering how Android can just load like that Ubuntu and run it along Android ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you point out, the video demonstrates a fully functional version of Ubuntu for Android. In the IRC channel, Ubuntu VP of engineering stated that U4A requires the Android OS to be modified slightly. I'm hopeful this process is unveiled soon and U4A becomes publicly available. It likely won't be very smooth on current commercially available hardware, and there's not really enough storage on an N4 to make it very practical, but it would still be nice to get a glimpse of computing convergence.
Thank you for your answer, is there any way to have access to this discussion ?
It seems pretty smooth on the video, which is surprising when you know the current hardware limitation on Android ...
For the storage, the cloud allows you to only download the file you need so it might not really be a problem.
I'm currently thinking about building a NAS to use it as a storage and download platform, it might be a custom solution for this problem.
Another option is my linuxonandroid project, see it as ubuntu for android but with just a one man team doing it in the spare time
Big plus side is we support a range of distros and are not limiting to Ubuntu
EDIT
Also note that the nexus 4 is a device I use and our up and coming LoA ROM will be on the Nexus 4 before you know it
The ROMs aim is to basicly do everything Ubuntu for Android can do and more!
Is this the app your talking about? I wanna try it but dont wanna install some bogus app lol
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.****ubuntu&hl=en
zacthespack said:
Another option is my linuxonandroid project, see it as ubuntu for android but with just a one man team doing it in the spare time
Big plus side is we support a range of distros and are not limiting to Ubuntu
EDIT
Also note that the nexus 4 is a device I use and our up and coming LoA ROM will be on the Nexus 4 before you know it
The ROMs aim is to basicly do everything Ubuntu for Android can do and more!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think they are using VM to run their Ubuntu ?
It must require a lot of RAM no ?
Something nice in their video is the share of data between the two OS (mail, contact, music, etc). Is it possible to do that when you do a VM ?
illgodson said:
Is this the app your talking about? I wanna try it but dont wanna install some bogus app lol
[/URL]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your link is not valid and I didn't find anything on the Play Store with the name Ubuntu.
illgodson said:
Is this the app your talking about? I wanna try it but dont wanna install some bogus app lol
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.****ubuntu&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid
Korgall said:
Do you think they are using VM to run their Ubuntu ?
It must require a lot of RAM no ?
Something nice in their video is the share of data between the two OS (mail, contact, music, etc). Is it possible to do that when you do a VM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like my project they do not use a VM, they use native Chroot, which allows Linux to run on the Android kernel from within Android.
SO you get normal access to hardware and kernel features and no performance hit.
Then for the sharing its a mixture of both OS's having access to the same storage so music and files are viewable from both.
For app data shared acrossed it simply requires so work to pass this across from one side to another, something that could be done pretty easy and I have started working on myself
Nice thank you gonna give it a try tonight.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
the play store description says it has instructins on how to install ubuntu 12.04...can I assume I can also install 13.10?
This is Relevant To My Interests
Im interested. Hope this gets updated soon
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
zacthespack said:
This is my app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zpwebsites.linuxonandroid
Just like my project they do not use a VM, they use native Chroot, which allows Linux to run on the Android kernel from within Android.
SO you get normal access to hardware and kernel features and no performance hit.
Then for the sharing its a mixture of both OS's having access to the same storage so music and files are viewable from both.
For app data shared acrossed it simply requires so work to pass this across from one side to another, something that could be done pretty easy and I have started working on myself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're a genius :good:
hp420 said:
the play store description says it has instructins on how to install ubuntu 12.04...can I assume I can also install 13.10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently its just 12.04 on Ubuntus side as we aimed to make alot of changes for our 13 release, but its coming
So the app gives directions on how to VNC into the linux system, but I want to connect my nexus 4 to a bluetooth mouse and keyboard and a monitor using the SlimPort adapter as seen in the Ubuntu Edge U4A video. Do you have or know of any directions on how this can be accomplished with Complete Linux Installer?
Thanks,
Blake
BCVisin said:
So the app gives directions on how to VNC into the linux system, but I want to connect my nexus 4 to a bluetooth mouse and keyboard and a monitor using the SlimPort adapter as seen in the Ubuntu Edge U4A video. Do you have or know of any directions on how this can be accomplished with Complete Linux Installer?
Thanks,
Blake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the short term you will have to watch this space, but its actually what I am working on as we speak!
zacthespack said:
For the short term you will have to watch this space, but its actually what I am working on as we speak!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, cool. I am extremely interested in this and I am a developer as well, so if there is anything you need tested or anything I can help you work on, please let me know.
I have a rooted Nexus 4 with sock jelly bean on it. I have played with installing Ubuntu Phone on it a few months back, but went back to android as I felt extremely limited in Ubuntu Phone.
I have the SlimPort® SP1002 from Amazon coming today. As I said before I would love to run it without the lag of VNC. Convergence is my main goal and I am so excited about Edge, but I want the Ubuntu for Android app for my Nexus 4 that I saw Leann talk about being already ready toady. Any idea of where/when we can get it?
zacthespack said:
For the short term you will have to watch this space, but its actually what I am working on as we speak!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will you implement native chroot at some point too?
So now that the Ubuntu Edge campaign has failed, if/when do you think they will release Ubuntu for Android? I am going to get the new Nexus (Nexus 5?) and hopefully they will have it released for that phone.

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