Difference Android Linux

[Thomasz]

I have wondered a while what's the difference between Linux and Android?

As if I'm not misstaking Android i based on an Linux kernel,so there must be some similarities.

When I mean Android I mean what's running on many Smartphones and Tablets.

So howver if Android is based on Linux,why can't I directly just flush out and run a regular Linux version?

 

[wendy-lebaron]

Welcome to the forums.

It's not clearly cut and dried. Android is owned by Google it seems. That company completely controls its destiny, changing it how it sees fit. The rest of Linux goes on with many denominations and varieties LOL.

The focus seems to be on portability with Android, but I don't know much about that. Soon I will have to obtain my own phone which I have been trying to resist for as long as I can. However I can't do a few public transactions without a phone tied with an e-mail address and I hate that I can't control that.

Oh well the Distrowatch Weekly reviewed UBPorts which might be an alternative to Android, but it seems to be still in early stages of development.

DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

distrowatch.com

 

[Brickwizard]

When Android was first developed, it was based on Fedora [i think it was version 5] but as it grew under google ownership the original kernel was hacked about and many android only codes added that there is little in similarity,
did you know there is no single android OS, there is the android base code, then each manufacturer of tablets and phones will add the drivers and other codes necessary for each of their products, and that is why the manufacturers are responsible for updates and the average life expectancy of android is 4 to 5 yrs [you may continue to get updates to your apps but not for your machine or security]. so Android is like a second cousin 5 times removed from Linux
Also unlike Linux, Android is not truly open source [nor is chrome OS or Google os] Google hold tight control, and like it or not you have to have a Google account to use them,

 

[bob466]

Also unlike Linux, Android is not truly open source [nor is chrome OS or Google os] Google hold tight control, and like it or not you have to have a Google account to use them,

This is true...without the account you can't access the Play Store. A friend has an iphone and had to enter a credit card to start using the phone and the apple store.

 

[osprey]

Android is open source. It is licensed under the Apache License which is an open source license, which means that the source code is open to anyone and free to distribute and be modified. What individuals and companies do with it later is what may not be open source. Details here: https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs.

 

[darry1966]

Well my ancient Samsung tab 2 can have apks installed still. To keep it going. Facebook and Messenger lite - ideal when I am away. Play store doen't work - not worried.