Comments on: Study: Financial Squeeze Pressuring Mobile Manufacturers to Use Linux http://www.intomobile.com/2009/02/10/study-financial-squeeze-pressuring-mobile-manufacturers-to-use-linux.html Cell Phone News, Information, and Analysis Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:02:56 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: forever4now http://www.intomobile.com/2009/02/10/study-financial-squeeze-pressuring-mobile-manufacturers-to-use-linux.html/comment-page-1/#comment-329730 forever4now Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:54:30 +0000 http://www.intomobile.com/?p=38931#comment-329730 I would hope in the future, the Linux portion of the various mobile platforms would converge. After all, the hardware will essentially be the same and that is what the OS manages. In terms of the application framework above it, it seems conceivable that there could be an Android stack, a LiMo stack, a Pre stack and even a Blackberry or Symbian stack. Essentially, the "community" would share in the development/support of the OS, simplifying the lives of the component vendors (few drivers, etc.), while the stacks above would allow the device vendors to differentiate their products. I would hope in the future, the Linux portion of the various mobile platforms would converge. After all, the hardware will essentially be the same and that is what the OS manages.

In terms of the application framework above it, it seems conceivable that there could be an Android stack, a LiMo stack, a Pre stack and even a Blackberry or Symbian stack.

Essentially, the “community” would share in the development/support of the OS, simplifying the lives of the component vendors (few drivers, etc.), while the stacks above would allow the device vendors to differentiate their products.

]]> By: Obvio Capitao http://www.intomobile.com/2009/02/10/study-financial-squeeze-pressuring-mobile-manufacturers-to-use-linux.html/comment-page-1/#comment-329724 Obvio Capitao Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:48:13 +0000 http://www.intomobile.com/?p=38931#comment-329724 I made an experiment with a regular Linux desktop distro called XUbuntu (a lightweight version of Ubuntu). I created a virtual machine with only 256 Mb RAM and installed XUbuntu. It used only 130Mb, and ran perfectly well. Here's a screenshot: http://i40.tinypic.com/vfj9k3.png When I opened Firefox, memory usage went to 180Mb -- but I still could use the computer without swapping. Linux is the perfect solution for netbooks with limited resources, not only because it is free (with reduces the overall cost by $30), but because it requires much less resources (with can reduce the overall cost by other $30). That means that a Linux netbook will cost at least $60 less than a Windows netbook; that's 20% to 30% of the netbook price. I made an experiment with a regular Linux desktop distro called XUbuntu (a lightweight version of Ubuntu).

I created a virtual machine with only 256 Mb RAM and installed XUbuntu. It used only 130Mb, and ran perfectly well.

Here’s a screenshot:

http://i40.tinypic.com/vfj9k3.png

When I opened Firefox, memory usage went to 180Mb — but I still could use the computer without swapping.

Linux is the perfect solution for netbooks with limited resources, not only because it is free (with reduces the overall cost by $30), but because it requires much less resources (with can reduce the overall cost by other $30).

That means that a Linux netbook will cost at least $60 less than a Windows netbook; that’s 20% to 30% of the netbook price.

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