Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 17 submissions in the queue.

Google Fuchsia UI Previewed

posted by on Wednesday May 10 2017, @07:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-flower-or-the-color? dept.

takyon writes:

Google's Fuchsia System UI can now be previewed. The operating system could potentially replace Android and even ChromeOS:

Google, never one to compete in a market with a single product, is apparently hard at work on a third operating system after Android and Chrome OS. This one is an open source, real-time OS called "Fuchsia." The OS first popped up in August last year, but back then it was just a command line. Now the mysterious project has a crazy new UI we can look at, so let's dive in.

Unlike Android and Chrome OS, Fuchsia is not based on Linux—it uses a new, Google-developed microkernel called "Magenta." With Fuchsia, Google would not only be dumping the Linux kernel, but also the GPL: the OS is licensed under a mix of BSD 3 clause, MIT, and Apache 2.0. Dumping Linux might come as a bit of a shock, but the Android ecosystem seems to have no desire to keep up with upstream Linux releases. Even the Google Pixel is still stuck on Linux Kernel 3.18, which was first released at the end of 2014.

[...] This all leads us to an interesting point right now: the Fuchsia interface is written with the Flutter SDK, which is cross-platform. This means that, right now, you can grab chunks of Fuchsia and run it on an Android device. Fuchsia first went public in August 2016, and but back then compiling it would get you nothing more than a command line. Thanks to Hotfixit.net for pointing out that the Fuchsia System UI, called "Armadillo" is actually pretty interesting now.

It's possible to download the source and compile Fuchsia's System UI into an Android APK and install it on an Android device. It consists of a wild reimagining of a home screen along with a keyboard, a home button, and (kind of) a window manager. Nothing really "works"—it's all a bunch of placeholder interfaces that don't do anything. There's also a great readme in the Fuchsia source that describes what the heck is going on.

It's about time for Linux Torvalds' domination of the smartphone industry to end.

Also at BGR, ZDNet, ComputerWorld, and The Register. Preview video.

Fuchsia on Google Git.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Google Fuchsia UI Previewed | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 38 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday May 11 2017, @07:23PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Thursday May 11 2017, @07:23PM (#508255) Journal

    Android developers are all 20-year-old Indian coders whose careers last at most 5 years so the developers will be phased out as they grow too old to work in the industry.
    Reply to This

    Would explain why a simple remote disply and data logger from Fluke (test equipment) consumes 100MB and requires you to have an account.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2