Ubuntu Touch Ported To Galaxy S3 | Hacker News Reader

Ubuntu Touch Ported To Galaxy S3

ubergizmo.com

As far as I can tell, the "Ubuntu Touch" bit is just a generic set of ARM-binaries running on top of a standard Android Linux-kernel without the traditional Android GUI, user-land and bits which the user normally interacts with. HAL, drivers and all that which interacts with the actual hardware still comes from the Android-base.

This means that most devices which already has a open-source Android-implementation (like AOSP or Cyanogenmod) can easily have the Android user-land ripped out and Ubuntu thrown in on top instead. Right now that is a shitload of devices.

As far as that makes Ubuntu its "own" OS or not might be a interesting discussion (1), but it's definitely a pragmatic solution and has clearly paid off with regard to getting a product to market.

(1) The same discussion can clearly be had for Android vs Linux. (2)

(2) Which in retrospect gives us the interesting case of a standard Linux (Ubuntu touch) built on top of a non-standard Linux (Android) to emulate a standard Linux (Ubuntu) in the first place. Turtles all the way down :)

How is Android kernel not a standard Linux ?

Ubuntu and Android simply share the Linux kernel. I don't see any preposterous about it.

I suppose he meant Android is not what Stallman would call GNU/Linux (and could actually be called Android/Linux if you will). See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#linuxsyswithoutgnu

And Ubuntu is? Last I checked Stallman hated Ubuntu, and told everyone to stop using it.

It's still the GNU userland on top of the Linux kernel, whether he likes it or not.

This is the one thing I don't understand about the GNU/Linux thing. Doesn't calling it GNU/Linux imply that it is derived from the GNU/FSF philosophy? To me it would make sense if another term can be coined to refer to systems that have a GNU base, yet go against GNU's goals, yet still credit the GNU project for its contributions. (I hope I'm not re-igniting the bad parts of the GNU/Linux debate).

Ubuntu is certainly what Stallman would call GNU/Linux. Just try to call it otherwise in his presense. ;)

Ubuntu, along with Debian, Fedora, and just about every major distro have always been on RMS's "not recommended" list.

> How is Android kernel not a standard Linux ?

Historically it wasn't, but checking around it seems like the kernel sources for Android has been unified and merged with the standard Linux-kernel so now they are indeed the same thing.

My bad.

Several ongoing efforts exist to get Android bits into the upstream Linux kernel, but those efforts have definitely not finished, and Android kernels still have quite a pile of changes that probably won't make it upstream.

Well, a large number of distros, Ubuntu included I believe, apply patches to their kernel that aren't in the official Linux kernel. Android's patches are far more extensive, and so it makes sense to talk about the "Android Linux kernel" as something distinct from the "standard Linux kernel".

Describing the S3 as an 'aged' phone seems a bit extreme given its successor is not released yet! But its good to see that Ubuntu Touch runs on a good selection of devices. I'm excited to try it out.

Reading the Android forums, I see users refer to phones barely 6 months old as being out of date and year old phones as antiques. I find that puzzling as they're most likely not doing anything that requires the latest device out there (they're not modding/developing, just end users that want latest shiny toy). If their phone isn't getting OS updates, then it at least has some weight, but I've seen users calling Nexus phones that as well.

I guess it's a hobby for some to trade in phones every few months. I'd rather have a top of the line PC than play Angry Birds with a 500ms faster load time with the next phone iteration.

Also, where are the source links on this blog? I have some gripes about most of the Android blogs for their reporting style, but this one can't even provide a link to where the mentioned ROMs are. For anyone that is interested, you can find the Verizon Galaxy S3 Ubuntu ROM here[1]. No working radios for phone calls or data and not worth using past trying it for the sake of testing. I don't recall seeing anything for any other S3 variants though, but any of the North American ones should have minimal changes at the most.

[1] http://rootzwiki.com/topic/39299-romwip-ubuntu-touch-on-d2vz...

> I find that puzzling as they're most likely not doing anything that requires the latest device

> I'd rather have a top of the line PC

It's a status symbol, so just having it is the end goal. But on one will see it if it stays at home. A phone is much easier to carry around and flash to your friends.

> > I'd rather have a top of the line PC

> It's a status symbol, so just having it is the end goal. But on one will see it if it stays at home. A phone is much easier to carry around and flash to your friends.

Images of people carrying giant gamer PCs around on their shoulders like boomboxes... oO;

Pft. S3.

Nexus One is an 'aged' phone.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2164616

Too bad my shit phone hasn't had CM ported to it, so I can't try it out.

Not sure what that has to do with it, unless it was just a general complaint that no one develops anything for your phone. If the kernel for your device has been released, you can build vanilla AOSP fairly easy by pulling the general AOSP source matching your latest OTA and also pulling the proprietary drivers from your phone and building the kernel.

There's some guides out there on how to do it, but would have to look around for something specific.

Of course that also means you have to have an unlocked bootloader as well or the above is kind of moot.

It was more of a general complaint. I have a Kyocera Rise, and it's locked down pretty well. The fact that it's a fairly unpopular budget phone doesn't help.

The kernel was released... But I don't think I have the patience to try porting something myself.

ebay

Yeah, it's best to get one of the more "open" devices if you want support from the community for a long time, and it helps if it's higher end, too, but even if it's low-end it should at least be a popular one.

For example, Galaxy Ace and LG Optimus One were very popular, and they're getting even the latest version of Android for them with CM. And last I checked JB was very fast on them. I also have JB on my own HTC Legend, which was also one of the most locked down phones ever. I went through a lot of trouble, and even had it "bricked" (not final) while trying to unlock it. But now I run a JB CM10 rom on it pretty well.

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