Quote:
Originally Posted by shalym
So are you saying that just because a Linux shell prompt is similar to a Unix shell prompt, and because someone used to using Unix would be comfortable using Linux, you're saying that the two Operating systems aren't the same?? But...that would mean that Android and Linux aren't the same Operating systems either, right??
Shari
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That's actually a very different matter. Linux was explicit written to be compatible with UNIX--to work the same way, run the same programs, etc, but to not use any of it's proprietary code. Like GNU, it exists pretty much expressly so one can have UNIX without UNIX.
Android, much like GEOS and early versions of Windows, is a distinctly different operating environment with it's own behaviors, it's own runtime libraries, design patterns, standards, APIs, etc, that sits on top of another OS and uses it's services (and occasionally, as in the case of the NDK, provides a way for developers to reach down into that underlying OS, only if necessary.)
But it provides its own user and development face, distinctly different and independent of the underlying OS.
Windows was eventually totally decoupled from DOS, GEOS ran on multiple platforms, and I suspect if there was any reason to, Android could be implemented on top of something other than the Linux kernel, and would still work about the same.
That's a another litmus test, I guess.
ApK