Android OS is as far from Linux as Symbian is

By Tsahi Levent-Levi

Categories: Clients

June 2nd, 2008

MobileCrunch recently compared Android OS with LiMo. Both are viewed as Linux-based platforms for handsets. However, I think they missed a crucial point – Android OS is simply not Linux.I’d like to first fix the comparison table on MobileCrunch’s post based on the interesting comments found in that specific post.

Here is a list to summarize the differences:

1. An SDK will be available in LiMo “soon”. Probably later on this year. With Android having one, I am sure LiMo members are working in this direction as well.
2. Apps in Java. This is probably a sad story on behalf of Android. As there is no C/C++ API’s to talk about and a “Java-like” infrastructure is what exists on Android with a new UI framework, it is going to be hard for developers to use.
3. Handset support was missing. While some of the Android’s OHA members are handset vendors, to date only HTC committed to the platform. With LiMo, there are a lot more vendors. The reason for that is simply because they view LiMo Foundation as more open than OHA.

Of all these, there is one that stands out the most – the Java part. Linux is a great platform. Applications in Linux are written in a myriad of languages, but at the heart of it there is C/C++ code. This includes the many C system calls in Linux as well as a very rich infrastructure of libraries and development tools – all of which are simply inaccessible to Android developers. Unless Android will provide access to the C/C++ level, it will not matter if it is written on top of Linux, Windows Mobile, Symbian or even Commodore. As the operating system and its ecosystem is buried deep inside Android – who will really care?

It doesn’t matter if Java is faster or slower, or even if it’s J2EE, J2ME or Google’s Java flavor – it is simply not Linux. Starting to develop on Android is going to be similar to migrating to Symbian. You start by relearning everything you already know just to write your applications. This is not a good starting point for a new platform. The only reason why Android may succeed is due to the strength of Google.