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posted by takyon on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the year-of-linux-down-by-the-docks dept.

Samsung has announced a new app called Linux on Galaxy that works with its DeX docking station to bring a full Linux desktop experience to Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphone users.

Comments from IDC sounded skeptical saying the concept is "interesting at best", but "the No. 1 challenge is that there is no public infrastructure for where you can dock your phone, other than in your home or office... Where you really would like to have that is at a hotel, at an airport, etc."

Samsung is touting their DeX environment as "supremely better than all the earlier attempts to have a smartphone docking into a big screen".


Original Submission

Related Stories

Samsung Shows Off Linux Desktops on Galaxy 8 Smartphone 18 comments

El Reg reports

Ubuntu--all of it--running Eclipse on a phone, and a DeX dock

Video Samsung's shown a little more of its plans to run fully-fledged Linux desktops on its 8-series Galaxy smartmobes.

Samsung teased the idea of Linux on its flagship phones in October 2017, promising that Linux would run in your hand or, if you use its DeX dock, in full desktop mode on a monitor. Now it's released [a video] to show off its idea.

Described as a "Concept Demo", the vid has a couple of interesting moments.

The first comes at the 12 second mark, after the "Linux on Galaxy" app has been run. At this point we see Ubuntu 16 listed, along with a plus sign to add other OSes to the app. This appears to make good on Samsung's promise that you'll be able to have multiple OSes in your Galaxy.

Not long after the app boots, an Ubuntu desktop duly appears and runs Eclipse [the FOSS integrated development environment].

In its original announcement of Linux on Galaxy, Samsung said it was aimed at developers wanting Linux wherever they may roam, on the off-chance they feel like doing a spot of coding on a very small screen. At 1:09 in the video below, the company puts some meat on those bones by suggesting Linux on a smartphone means developers can "use classic IDE desktop IDE for native ARM development."

Which sounds a bit more like it as The Register can imagine developers using a handset to test an app and tweaking it on the run, popping a phone in and out of a dock when a proper look at the code is required

Samsung's still not saying when Linux on Galaxy will debut, but at least now we know it's more than[sic] advanced than mere announcementware. The company's still offering the chance to sign up for more info about the tool, here.

Previous: Samsung to Give Linux Desktop Experience to Smartphone Users


Original Submission

Laptop and Phone Convergence at CES 17 comments

New laptops are drawing upon features/attributes associated with smartphones, such as LTE connectivity, ARM processors, (relatively) high battery life, and walled gardens:

This year's crop of CES laptops -- which we'll define broadly to include Windows-based two-in-one hybrids and slates -- even show signs of a sudden evolutionary leap. The long-predicted PC-phone convergence is happening, but rather than phones becoming more like computers, computers are becoming more like phones.

The most obvious way this is happening is the new breed of laptops that ditch the traditional Intel (and sometimes AMD) processors for new Snapdragon processors from Qualcomm. So far, we've seen three of these Snapdragon systems announced: the HP Envy x2, the Asus NoveGo and the Lenovo Miix 630.

Laptops with lower-end processors have been tried before, with limited success. Why is now potentially the right time? Because these systems aren't being pitched as bargain basement throwaways -- and in fact, they'll cost $600 and up, the same as many mainstream laptops in the US. Instead, they promise some very high-end features, including always-on LTE connectivity (like a phone) and 20-plus hours of battery life with weeks of standby time, which also sounds more like a phone than a PC. The tradeoff is that these Snapdragon laptops run Windows 10 S, a limited version of Windows 10, which only allows apps from the official Microsoft app store. That's also similar to the walled garden of mobile OS apps many phones embrace.

[...] There's another take on phone-laptop convergence happening here at CES. Razer, the PC and accessory maker, always brings one or two inventive prototypes to CES, such as last year's triple-screen Project Valerie laptop. The concept piece for CES 2018 is Project Linda, a 13-inch laptop shell, with a large cutout where the touchpad would normally be. You drop a Razer Phone in that slot, press a button, and the two pieces connect, with the laptop body acting as a high-end dock for the phone. The phone acts as a touchpad and also a second screen, and it works with the growing number of Android apps that have been specially formatted for larger laptop screens or computer monitors.


Original Submission

Chicago Police Department Partnering with Samsung for in-Vehicle Smartphone Docking 30 comments

Chicago Police Department Piloting Samsung DeX in Vehicle

Chicago Police Department is rolling out a pilot of Samsung's DeX in Vehicle solution, providing officers the ability to dock their Galaxy smartphones and access policing applications on a dash-mounted display and keyboard.

The mobile-first initiative, announced at a press conference on August 21, aims to leverage the power of officer smartphones to streamline in-vehicle computing access. Officers participating in the pilot will be able to access computer-aided dispatch and other Chicago Police Department systems to conduct background checks and complete reports. Photo and video evidence captured on the smartphone will also be immediately accessible to attach to reports. The initial pilot will roll out for CPD's 11th district.

Also at Engadget.

See also: Living up to the promise of Continuum for Windows Phone, Samsung Dex makes its way into police cars

Related: Samsung to Give Linux Desktop Experience to Smartphone Users
Samsung Shows Off Linux Desktops on Galaxy 8 Smartphone


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Pino P on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:06PM (21 children)

    by Pino P (4721) on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:06PM (#589190) Journal

    What's the difference between this and, say, installing the GNURoot Debian and XSDL apps onto any Android phone and connecting it to a USB or Bluetooth keyboard and an HDMI monitor?

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:19PM (13 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:19PM (#589194) Journal

      "supremely better than all the earlier attempts to have a smartphone docking into a big screen"

      😎

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:20PM (12 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:20PM (#589218)

        You have a cheese pizza. And then you have SUPREME pizza, with, like, anchovies and pineapple and shit.

        That's the difference.

        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by KiloByte on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:43PM (11 children)

          by KiloByte (375) on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:43PM (#589222)

          And then you have SUPREME pizza, with, like, anchovies and pineapple and shit.

          A pizza with freaking anchovies is the equivalent of GNOME 3. There's no human being liking the thing, yet somehow pizza manufacturer shills put forth false claims this shit might be edible. Then there are even references to anchovies in games that require a fix [github.com].

          So sorry, GNOME3, anchovies, Metro, systemd and coprophagia are all on one boat.

          --
          Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:49PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:49PM (#589223)

            There's no human being liking the thing [anchovies on pizza]

            Might wanna have a chat with some Napolitanos/Sicilians, you know, the ones who "invented" pizza.

            • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday October 30 2017, @08:59PM

              by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @08:59PM (#589677) Journal

              AC nails it.

              There's also the history of Roman love for stinky fish all smashed up; a cat's soup (no). Can't remember the name.

              Aged pureed mackerel in tomato might come close to that and by the way I'm slightly horrified to discover (while searching for a fitting visual example) that mackerel in tomato is a global thing (Thai example here [amazon.com], at least they gave it a pretty mascot instead of a picture of the contents looking like the usual asphalt pizza/roadkill).

              Pum Pui... another great company name, likely "om-nom-ato-poetic" :D (spelt [wiktionary.org] wrong on purpose!)

              --
              Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
          • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:11PM (4 children)

            by RamiK (1813) on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:11PM (#589225)

            There's no human being liking the thing

            I like anchovies on pizza. Maybe you're mistaking the mediterranean engraulis encrasicolus with the pacific engraulis mordax? I use the imported canned ones on this recipe [youtube.com] and it's great.

            --
            compiling...
            • (Score: 4, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:04PM (3 children)

              by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:04PM (#589239)

              Anchovies are bait.
              You use them to catch actual food......😎

              --
              Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
              • (Score: 4, Funny) by jasassin on Monday October 30 2017, @01:55AM (1 child)

                by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Monday October 30 2017, @01:55AM (#589300) Homepage Journal

                Anchovies are bait.
                You use them to catch actual food......

                It's true. You wouldn't believe how many X-Large pepperoni and mushroom pizzas I've realed in using anchovies.

                --
                jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
                • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday October 30 2017, @04:23PM

                  by RamiK (1813) on Monday October 30 2017, @04:23PM (#589502)

                  Sounds like you're the one getting baited by those anchovies...

                  --
                  compiling...
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @06:43AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @06:43AM (#589361)

                Between KiloByte saying anchovies isn't for humans and Pslytely Psycho saying it's used to bait real food, it seems we have a consensus RamiK is eatable... Dibs on the chops!

          • (Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Monday October 30 2017, @10:22AM (1 child)

            by Dr Spin (5239) on Monday October 30 2017, @10:22AM (#589396)

            A pizza with freaking anchovies is the equivalent of GNOME 3.

            You are not Italian. My grandmother said "its not Pizza if it has not got Anchovies".

            Its Pineapples on a Pizza that is like Systemd. - They don't just sit there, they contaminate the whole thing!

            --
            Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
            • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday October 30 2017, @09:11PM

              by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @09:11PM (#589686) Journal

              Maybe anchovies and pineapples don't mix too well but since you brought it up my brain screams
              smashed mackerel in tomato with cheese and pineapple pizza.
              The flavors would both compete and cooperate.

              If no Italian already does it then now they can!

              The answer to "red or white wine?" would be grappa directly from the bottle.

              P.s. what about curry pizza?

              --
              Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
          • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 30 2017, @04:57PM (1 child)

            by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday October 30 2017, @04:57PM (#589526) Journal

            You know, that's a staple of every Hollywood movie that mentions pizza, but like most things that come out of Hollywood it's nonsense. Anchovies blend into the pizza flavor and make it so much more savory. If you go to a good Italian restaurant and you wonder why it's so much better than what you can do at home, it's because they put anchovie paste in the sauce. If you are really digging the rich, creamy dressing on your Cesar salad, it's because it has anchovy paste in it.

            Every cuisine has a secret ingredient that puts it head and shoulders above the rest. For Mexican it's cilantro. For Chinese it's sesame oil. For Italian it's anchovies.

            --
            Washington DC delenda est.
            • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday October 30 2017, @05:17PM

              by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @05:17PM (#589539) Journal

              Actually, I find anchovies too salty. I prefer sardines on pizza. Unfortunately, the only pizza joint I knew of that ever did that didn't make good pizza, and folded decades ago.

              If there's nothing else salty on the pizza, than anchovies are ok. Otherwise I'd give them a pass.

              --
              Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @08:27PM (#589197)

      Nothing. However if docking stations become more popular, and available for general use with all smartphones, I imagine someone might do all of what you said without the hassle of connecting blue tooth devices and plugging in a monitor cord.

      The year of the Linux desktop may finally come, minus the actual desktop computer.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by ledow on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:03PM (1 child)

      by ledow (5567) on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:03PM (#589208) Homepage

      You don't have to root your phone, which most people will never do.

      And you don't have to know how to do anything but click the icon, which most people don't.

      And you'll be supported by the original manufacturer's warranty still.

      But apart from that... yeah... "nothing"...

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:14PM (3 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:14PM (#589214)

      Samsung (presumably) has polished off the rough edges, making things that can be "plug and play" truly plug and play, without, you know, using ifconfig to find an ip address and manually typing it in along with three commands and seven options on a cli to make anything work.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 30 2017, @05:00PM (2 children)

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday October 30 2017, @05:00PM (#589530) Journal

        ifconfig to find an ip address and manually typing it in along with three commands and seven options on a cli to make anything work.

        You say that like it's a bad thing.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday October 30 2017, @07:50PM (1 child)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday October 30 2017, @07:50PM (#589619)

          When I have to do it every time I boot up, or customize a personal script to do it for me, yeah - I'd rather buy a product where somebody else has already debugged all the edge cases where those scripts don't work so well, instead of "learning for myself."

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:15PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @09:15PM (#589216)

    For the time being try a laptop without cpu, ssd, etc. Add the docking connector to the back of the lid and you have a mobile docking station that weighs 1/2 as much as your current laptop.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:02PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:02PM (#589224)

      But, . . . can it run Linux?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @12:47AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @12:47AM (#589265)

      That... Actually sounds like it could be fucking slick done right...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:35PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:35PM (#589230)

    Start with that article:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_DeX [wikipedia.org]

    View text for the article, and note the lack of SVG. All there is is a JPG.

    Now, back to the article, click on the image.

    My web browser says the link goes one place, but it goes elsewhere. Supposedly it goes to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samsung_DeX_dock_with_S8,_plugged_into_monitor.jpg [wikipedia.org] but actually it goes to a link named https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_DeX#/media/File:Samsung_DeX_dock_with_S8,_plugged_into_monitor.jpg [wikipedia.org] which is a viewer.

    There is a "greater than" symbol if you mouse over the right side of the image. Click it. Oh, now you get an SVG file of the SAMSUNG logo. Say what?

    Check the JPG media file. It's totally normal, with no SVG anywhere.

    Where is this SVG coming from??? How is it that the article has a multi-image viewer? Where was this specified? Could there have been 42 images, maybe with a video or MIDI file mixed in?

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:57PM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:57PM (#589237) Journal

      Wikipedia has an internal image viewer on articles.

      In the past, when you clicked on an image, you opened a new page detailing the file, other sizes, previous versions, comments, license info, etc. This is that page:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samsung_DeX_dock_with_S8,_plugged_into_monitor.jpg [wikipedia.org]
      https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samsung_DeX_dock_with_S8,_plugged_into_monitor.jpg [wikimedia.org]

      But now the default action when you click the image is that a full screen version pops up without you leaving the article page.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_DeX#/media/File:Samsung_DeX_dock_with_S8,_plugged_into_monitor.jpg [wikipedia.org]

      Notice that everything before the "#" is the article URL.

      Now what you did was you opened up the viewer by clicking the image once, and then clicked the arrow on the right hand side of the image. It has title text of "Show next image". Suddenly, a Samsung logo. Where did that come from? It was on the bottom of the article, the part that says "This Samsung mobile phone-related article is a stub." Why they include the "stub" [wikipedia.org] template image in the list of images on the page, I don't know.

      The reason for your SVG confusion is that the Samsung logo was indeed an SVG file:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samsung_Logo.svg [wikipedia.org]

      Almost nobody would make a photograph of a desk into an SVG file, and they didn't in this case.

      And here's the template:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Samsung-mobile-stub [wikipedia.org]

      What do you need to do to avoid this mistake next time? Either click the "X" in the top right corner to close the image viewer, or instead of clicking on an image, middle click or right click to open the image file page in a new tab.

      You could also click the "More Details" button in the bottom right corner when the image viewer opens, which will take you to the file page.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:13AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:13AM (#589347)

      If you dislike that level of crazy, try disabling JavaScript. Also good for your health.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:40AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @05:40AM (#589351)

        Im also not a fan of the image viewer and wish I could turn it off. I don't think noscript achieves that though. Im sure someone will think Im not couragous enough to enjoy modern web content or something, but I really would like to skip the viewer.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @07:10AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @07:10AM (#589362)

          Right click image.
          Open link in new tab.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @07:13PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @07:13PM (#589607)

            It seems like noscript does work for this.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:39PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:39PM (#589232)

    Samsung makes lots of phones. Samsung makes lots of TVs.

    The obvious thing is to build a near-field connection into the top of every TV they make. Don't charge extra or limit the models that have it.

    Then you can place any Samsung phone on top of any Samsung TV to get power and a big display. The only thing left to add is bluetooth odds and ends, like a keyboard and mouse.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:07PM (5 children)

      by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:07PM (#589240)

      "Then you can place any Samsung phone on top of any Samsung TV"

      Going to need some type of mount on the TV, My TV is only 3/4" wide on top. Hell of a balancing act otherwise.....

      --
      Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:40PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:40PM (#589250)

        Nixon: Some people tied to his campaign break into the DNC, and then he covers it up. He is not impeached.

        Bill: Takes money from China. Gives ICBM guidance tech to China. Lies under oath, and is actually impeached.

        Obama and Hillary together: They try to wiretap Trump tower, get turned down. They pay $9 million for a fake "dossier", which they then use to get a warrant for the wiretap, succeeding with the falsified evidence. They then electronically spy on their political opponent.

        Bill and Hillary together: Take money from Russia. Let 20% of our uranium go to Russia.

        By those standards, especially if you add in the recent JFK-related suspicions about two other past presidents, Nixon is looking mighty nice. Carter, Reagan, and Trump are the only ones who might be more respectable than Nixon.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:14AM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:14AM (#589302)

          Heh. Another History alliterate.

          Trump violates The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution multiple times daily.
          It will be interesting to see just who pulled what strings in the Whitefish Energy/Puerto Rico thing.

          Reagan sold weapons to Iran without congressional approval and sent the money to Nicaragua where it was used by The Contras to continue their program of burning villages, rape, torture, "disappearing" people, and mass murder.

          I would have liked to have seen Carter completely abandon regime change efforts in South America, but I will give him partial credit for throttling back on that.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by aristarchus on Monday October 30 2017, @08:34AM (1 child)

            by aristarchus (2645) on Monday October 30 2017, @08:34AM (#589370) Journal

            Um, gweg_, do you mean illiterate, as in not literate, or unable to read? Alliteration is fine for the lower sorts of English doggerel, but I do not think "alliterate" means what you think it means.

            • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @09:08AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @09:08AM (#589381)

              I meant aliterate.
              It's clear that he is -able- to read.
              It's his Trump-like aversion to the process that I am noting.

              -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @01:52PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @01:52PM (#589431)

            Running a normal business does not violate the emoluments clause. Numerous presidents have done it, going all the way back to George Washington.

            The deal with Whitefish energy looks absurd at first glance, but the cringeworthy explanation makes perfect sense: every other company took one look at Puerto Rico's credit rating and then demanded a huge down payment. Whitefish was willing to do a pay-as-you-go job. Obviously there was no way that a huge down payment would happen. Whitefish got together 400 people and started work, so it all looks 100% legit.

            It does sort of look corrupt to kill the Whitefish deal. The big companies won't stand for a little company coming in and taking their business. The big companies can lobby to kill Whitefish's contract. We can however explain this one too: the unconventional choice was turning into a public relations embarrassment.

    • (Score: 2) by turgid on Monday October 30 2017, @10:00AM

      by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @10:00AM (#589394) Journal

      Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @10:45PM (#589235)

    The best pizza is New York-style floppy pizza, with sauce and olive oil dripping down, with pepperoni and mushroom.

    Chicago deep-shit can fuck themselves. I mean, that's a lousy lagsania/musaka.

    CA chicken garlic thing aint' too bad, though.

  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday October 30 2017, @12:05AM (14 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Monday October 30 2017, @12:05AM (#589255)

    I've been using Unix since 82/83. I discovered Linux in 94. I was a sysadmin for a 20 something Sun workstation network in '90. I've written Linux device drivers, and some of my code was at one time in the main Linux tree (it's been 20 years, one was a workaround for an Intel ethernet chip bug, the other was getting Firewire to work).

    I don't see any reason to run Linux on my damned phone. Let me play poker, keep a shopping list, give me directions to where I want to go, and, oh, hey, let me make and/or recieve phone calls 2-3 times a month. But run Linux on it? Why would I possibly want that?

    / got preview silicon of Intel Ehternet chips in 90 or so
    // they had a great feature to reduce idle time that, unfortunately, did not work
    /// I found a workaround, that I sent to Intel, that Intel sent out as errata, that in '94 when I found Linux I found my workaround.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @12:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @12:56AM (#589269)

      Umm. most non-Apple phones run Linux.

      The story is about a Linux desktop on the phone. Presumably that implies GUN and the X window system. (TFA does not give details other than working Vulcan drivers).

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @01:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @01:27AM (#589285)

      Sounds like you've given up. It comes to us all, eventually, but not quite yet for many of us out here, statistically all modern phone run linux and we're just getting access back.

      But please enjoy your poker.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:48AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:48AM (#589320)

      They've done better lately but it's still pretty horrid.
      Android.permissions [google.com]

      Exploits database for the Android platform [exploit-db.com]

      .
      ...and I saw Samsung's announcement several days before it appeared in the queue.
      Like AC#589269, I thought "Meh. There's far too few details on this."

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by stormreaver on Monday October 30 2017, @03:30AM (1 child)

      by stormreaver (5101) on Monday October 30 2017, @03:30AM (#589334)

      I don't see any reason to run Linux on my damned phone.

      I don't see any reason to run anything other than a pure Linux on my phone. The Purism phone sounds like a dream come true: all open hardware, no hidden chipset super-operating systems, trustworthy security and encryption, and pure Linux driving it all.
      I'm saving my money now so it can be my next phone. I'm so sick of Android (and can't stand Apple) that I'm willing and happy to put out the extra cash to regain my freedom and to not have to write to closed API's.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @04:59PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @04:59PM (#589529)

        exactly! some one gets it!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @03:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @03:50AM (#589338)

      Smartphone is a computer, fam. It ain't like the flip phones that you use to talk with people.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @02:15PM (#589440)

      > Let me play poker, keep a shopping list, give me directions to where I want to go, and, oh, hey, let me make and/or recieve phone calls 2-3 times a month

      the first two apps i loaded were a term emulator and vnc, and I am a power user not even a sysadmin.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 30 2017, @05:15PM (3 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday October 30 2017, @05:15PM (#589538) Journal

      Control, that's why. I was in your camp for a long time, but I got sick of ads and adware leaching away the performance of my devices. I got tired of the stupid pre-installed NFL app I never wanted and never even launched once sitting in prime real estate and hogging way too much storage. I got sick and tired of nagging messages urging me to update to new versions to give me even more of the same, and so some a*hole UI designer could paste their "vision" all over my interface. No thank you!

      I don't sit down and develop on my phone because that's silly, but there have been times it's nice to do what I want, when I want, how I want. For me that is a price above rubies.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday October 30 2017, @09:46PM (2 children)

        by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @09:46PM (#589708) Journal

        "I don't sit down and develop on my phone because that's silly, but there have been times it's nice to do what I want, when I want, how I want. For me that is a price above rubies."

        That's also a good point. Once upon a time I felt like writing some small stuff for my Nokia and by the time I had the time to take a second look at it they had practically discontinued all development "support" (including sending all the stuff —SDKs, docs, even tutorials, lots of handholding, APIs— that I had found the last time I looked at their site, all of that right into their own /dev/null for "archival" in nowhereland). Later yet I found that someone else had figured out and documented a way to develop on it independently of "all that had been" (and the JavaME approach of theirs is likely still feasible) but meh...

        Actually one of the things I wanted to do was to "develop" on it ...on a dumb phone... ...using the number pad of course... (so far it's actually all incredibly neat, think ultra-super-duper-dynamically-adaptive-auto-complete neat; the ideas could/should work) ...preferrrrrably doing Python... ...and for that I was going to have to dust off the Java books and do JavaME in some outdated special edition depending on the version of the software in the firmware of the specific model of an old phone?...

        ...well just call me lazy please :D

        --
        Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
        • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday October 30 2017, @11:44PM (1 child)

          by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday October 30 2017, @11:44PM (#589764) Journal

          Actually one of the things I wanted to do was to "develop" on it ...on a dumb phone... ...using the number pad of course...

          Holy crap! That is a level of masochism I have never even guessed at before. I bow to you.

          Hope you do it someday, though, because that has geek hall of fame written all over it.

          --
          Washington DC delenda est.
          • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday November 04 2017, @06:40AM

            by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 04 2017, @06:40AM (#592095) Journal

            It is increasingly unlikely but yeah it does sound "fun" in a most insane way :D

            It wouldn't be much more than a novelty thing these days when everyone can and do get themselves a smartphone and could buy a roll-up keyboard.

            For a novelty item it would involve a lot of work though, at least to make it really interesting. The input part is mostly custom word processing and wouldn't be too bad on its own except to figure out what would be sensible for all the chording going on but the really fun part would start when the language itself is included/ported and then if one had gotten that far to combine it all into an added interpreter (I was aiming at Python).

            Prototyping would use a number pad on a keyboard on a normal PC or similar. The input would function as "chorded coding" for a whole programming language, a mode selection or menu equivalent (most likely a dedicated starting key), as well as a chording for the full keyboard to input numeric values, variable and function names, etc., and also a sort of advanced auto-complete for programming structures and name completion for previously used variables, functions, etc. (requires list selection functionality).

            The really nasty part enters once one tries to get this working on phone pads and phone screens and so on that are more or less unique for any phone model and/or sub-release of said model (which phone "OS" at which revision and so on and which software functionality and updates they have and so on)...

            Too much work XD

            If some crazy teenager (that is meant more as an energy quantity than anything else) wants to do it then they're free to do whatever they like: I too will be very impressed at the "hall of fame" nerdiness of someone completing something like it :)

            I'm sure there's lots of people out there who could breeze through it but I fully understand it if it doesn't feel like it's worth it since I'm not doing it myself :)

            Then again if it turns out we'll all live a few hundred years more than we expected to then it's not impossible I'll get back to you :D (until then it's in the "crazy ideas" stack with all the other ones —it's nowhere near the top of the "crasy stack" though so even with a few hundred years the prospect doesn't look too good for it).

            As my silly "user bio" says I'm "likely insane" :)

            --
            Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
    • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday October 30 2017, @09:26PM (2 children)

      by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 30 2017, @09:26PM (#589699) Journal

      "But run Linux on it? Why would I possibly want that?"

      Because it would instantly be less bloated than even old (I mean old!) pre-MS Nokia feature phones? :S

      (And maybe, just maybe, give you a sliver of privacy although that's doubtful).

      Not that I'm planning on buying anything from Samsung, I'm pretty sure they're on my shit-list for something (bricking computers, hdd stuff, etc. I don't remember the latest outrage).

      --
      Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:50PM (1 child)

        by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:50PM (#590260) Journal

        "But run Linux on it? Why would I possibly want that?"

        Because it would instantly be less bloated than even old (I mean old!) pre-MS Nokia feature phones? :S

        (And maybe, just maybe, give you a sliver of privacy although that's doubtful).

        What reason do you have to believe that? If you want a bloat-free, privacy-friendly smartphone, just wipe the stock OS and put on LineageOS or some other custom rom. But since Samsung has no problem piling up their custom Android rom with all this added bloat and spyware, why would you think they wouldn't do the same to their phone-based Linux distro? We don't even know if you'll have root on that system. It's not like it's impossible to add that kind of crap to a Linux desktop or lock the user out of having any real control. That tends to be how Samsung does things...

        • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday November 04 2017, @06:08AM

          by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 04 2017, @06:08AM (#592091) Journal

          Ah no: I fully agree with you, I only wanted the Linux part, not the Samsung part (or Apple or Google or Microsoft etc.). My mistake for not specifying that :)

          And must have root, and full chip control too please, no hidden monkey business :)

          But yeah I know I'm dreaming.

          --
          Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
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