Android "Backend" for Linux?

[EssoAir]

Hi everyone! I just posted the following on /g/ but (I guess as expected) was not greeted with much scholarly discussion but instead a bunch of ridiculousness.

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TL;DR Looking for Dev to make Android for GNU/Linux


Hii /g/


I come to you with a proposition. I have this great idea for some Linux software. I have no need to take credit for this idea (since it really isn't even mine to start with - pic related, an abandoned project from Canonical in 2009)


I would like some Dev that has more experience than I do to write an Android "backend" for Linux. Basically, this application starts up and creates a service that's always running in the background (similar to how Dropbox sync runs in the background). Then, with this, you could install Android apps in Linux, but then actually would open up in windows like any normal Linux app would. Android Apps would become indistinguishable from normal Linux apps. That way, you can have all your favorite Android apps, right on your desktop without using clunky VMware or Bluestacks.


Also, the advantage to this would be the Windows themselves. Instead of only having one android app visible at a time (like VMware or Bluestacks) you could have 3, 4 or even more open in completely realizable, minimizable, windows exactly how normal Linux software runs.


So, what say you, smart devs of /g/?

for those of you that know more about this type of thing, can you help me understand why this hasn't already been done? It seems like such a natural thing to do.

 

[ekianjo]

Look, why don't you start learning programming, computer science and how things work instead of asking questions like that all the time? It's like asking "why didnt we already go to Mars since it's technically feasible right ?". 

Of course your question would be met with ridicule. 

 

[Doombox]

What's /g/ ?  Also this has nothing to do with android on pandora..... Wouldn't this be better in offtopic ? (I think more people would see it)

 

[vinipsmaker]

What's /g/ ?  Also this has nothing to do with android on pandora..... Wouldn't this be better in offtopic ? (I think more people would see it)

/g/, /b/, /letter/, its how people refer to some 4chan topic:

https://boards.4chan.org/g/

 

[Doombox]

^ Oh thank you, I don't go on 4chan ...

 

[EssoAir]

Look, why don't you start learning programming, computer science and how things work instead of asking questions like that all the time? It's like asking "why didnt we already go to Mars since it's technically feasible right ?". 

Of course your question would be met with ridicule. 

I have one more year of highschool and then Ill go to college for Computer Science

 

[Asiyura]

You don't need school to learn programming, I started learning when I was 8 or 10 years old…

At the time, I was copying lines of codes from books to the ZX Spectrum, then I started to tweak things to improve the games.

Back then we had to use books, now you have a shitload of information accessible on the internet, use it!

That would prevent us from being annoyed by your dumb questions…

 

[ekianjo]

Look, why don't you start learning programming, computer science and how things work instead of asking questions like that all the time? It's like asking "why didnt we already go to Mars since it's technically feasible right ?". 

Of course your question would be met with ridicule. 

I have one more year of highschool and then Ill go to college for Computer Science

If you are waiting for school to teach you something... you wont be learning fast.

 

[ghostpatch]

I have one more year of highschool and then Ill go to college for Computer Science

yeah I hope its not one of those who teach Java, Oracle and MS office   lol 

for those of you that know more about this type of thing, can you help me understand why this hasn't already been done?

-Sailfish is able to run .apk's (Alien Dalvik layer from Myriad Group)

-Phoenix International Communications is also developing a compatibility layer for WebOS

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1957339277/run-android-apps-in-webos-on-the-hp-touchpad

 

[PokeParadox]

We already have apk-env which is a nice start

 

[WizardStan]

I have one more year of highschool and then Ill go to college for Computer Science

Adding to what everyone else has said about learning now, not everyone is cut out to be a programmer. Anyone can be taught the languages, but some people just can't think the way you need to when writing software. Nothing wrong with that, they just think a different way better suited to other jobs. I've met such programmers, brilliant people most of the time that just can't grasp the proper use of algorithms and the like. It would suck to start a college course and find out that you don't "think like a programmer" and would be happier following a better career. That's the real reason it's important to start learning the basics early, so you can decide whether becoming a developer is really right for you. Plus it's important to understand the basics.Think about someone in their final year, never having drawn a single picture, suddenly deciding they were going to art college. Or someone else who hasn't so much as looked at the gears on their bike deciding to become a mechanic. All power to them if they make it through and get the career they were hoping for but by going in entirely fresh they're not doing themselves any favours, and neither are you.

Pick a language (Python is good, Ruby would probably work, C++ can be useful as long as you don't stray too far from the basics, maybe even straight up learn BASIC ), find a tutorial, and teach yourself something fun

 

[ekianjo]

I'd go even further to quote the following:

The Wright Brothers Didn't Have a Pilot's License. 

Sounds obvious, but you don't NEED to go to school to learn programming. There's resources everywhere on the web. Instead of wasting your time on something else, if you really intend on making your carreer in computer science there's nothing stopping you from learning right now. Stop the BS questions on the boards and go down to the action. John Carmack didn't wait to go to college to make games. He made games since he was 13-14. Learning by himself on systems where documentation was non-existent. 

You have NO excuse in this time and age to wait for college.

 

[EssoAir]

wow. Lots of comments. I have tried in the past, but I actually learn things in school a lot better, I find. I am an auditory learner so reading and writing is actually a struggle for me. I made it through several Java tutorials on youtube last school year, but I kept forgetting everything and it became very frustrating. I find I learn a lot better when I can ask questions, which isnt very practical with a tutorial. Yes, I can post on a forum, but all the responses would be text-based, which as I said, is a struggle for me. I dont want to sound like I'm mkaing excuses though, so Ill just stop asking programming related questions so as not to piss anyone off anymore.

 

[WizardStan]

I really hate to say this but computer science may not be the best course for you. As a programmer I am expected to learn a lot of things on my own. Boss needs a program to read in a bunch of doots from some server and sort them by deets, I need to find the documentation on that server, how to connect to it, how to get "deet" information from a "doot"; no one is going to tell me these things, I need to look them up on my own.

Software development evolves a lot. New languages come out, new methods of interaction, if you want to remain employable you need to learn these things and you won't always be able to find a course to teach you, often enough you are going to need to read things and do some experimenting on your own.

I don't know what to suggest here.

 

[Asiyura]

I agree with WizardStan.

Working as a developer, you need to constantly keep up-to-date with new technology and it's mostly by reading things, not by hearing them…

Moreover if you have troubles with reading and writing, coding definitely isn't for you. You spend hours writing code, then reading it back to find a way to squash the bugs in it…

 

[ekianjo]

Yeah, as a programmer you need to constantly train yourself to what ever is coming out. You can't just rely on what you learnt in school. It will become obsolete after a while. Self-learning is a must.

 

[vinipsmaker]

I have one more year of highschool and then Ill go to college for Computer Science

Adding to what everyone else has said about learning now, not everyone is cut out to be a programmer. Anyone can be taught the languages, but some people just can't think the way you need to when writing software. Nothing wrong with that, they just think a different way better suited to other jobs. I've met such programmers, brilliant people most of the time that just can't grasp the proper use of algorithms and the like. It would suck to start a college course and find out that you don't "think like a programmer" and would be happier following a better career. That's the real reason it's important to start learning the basics early, so you can decide whether becoming a developer is really right for you. Plus it's important to understand the basics.
Think about someone in their final year, never having drawn a single picture, suddenly deciding they were going to art college. Or someone else who hasn't so much as looked at the gears on their bike deciding to become a mechanic. All power to them if they make it through and get the career they were hoping for but by going in entirely fresh they're not doing themselves any favours, and neither are you.


Pick a language (Python is good, Ruby would probably work, C++ can be useful as long as you don't stray too far from the basics, maybe even straight up learn BASIC ), find a tutorial, and teach yourself something fun

EssoAir, don't let anyone get in your way of what you believe. If you want to be a programmer, you need to do fucking programmer, motherfucker. If you can't get something done now, try again, and don't stop.

=P

And BASIC is abandonware, you'll learn a "dead language", a waste of time. If you want to start with something easy, go Python.

 

[WizardStan]

And BASIC is abandonware, you'll learn a "dead language", a waste of time. If you want to start with something easy, go Python.

Objection: if you learn the basics in one language then you've learned them for every language, the rest is just a matter of semantics. You shouldn't be learning a language, you should be learning to program, the language is just the tool through which you learn it. BASIC is a very simple language, one which we have a pretty good implementation of on the Pandora with a lot of features which someone can then use to do a lot of fun things. He may never use it exactly in the workplace but the skills learned will be valuable regardless. A skilled programmer can pick up new languages in almost no time regardless of what language they learned on.

 

[vinipsmaker]

And BASIC is abandonware, you'll learn a "dead language", a waste of time. If you want to start with something easy, go Python.

Objection: if you learn the basics in one language then you've learned them for every language, the rest is just a matter of semantics. You shouldn't be learning a language, you should be learning to program, the language is just the tool through which you learn it. BASIC is a very simple language, one which we have a pretty good implementation of on the Pandora with a lot of features which someone can then use to do a lot of fun things. He may never use it exactly in the workplace but the skills learned will be valuable regardless. A skilled programmer can pick up new languages in almost no time regardless of what language they learned on.

In my suggestion, he'd need to learn:

• Programming basics
• Python or any "real-world" useful language

In your suggestion, he'd need to learn:

• Programming basics
• BASIC
• A useful programming language

 

[EssoAir]

Oh, I forgot to say this earlier. I got really good at Applescript a while back, so my struggle is not a conceptual one. Its simply the translations in my head from what I write (#import iostrean) to what it actually means (Computer, allow me to fucking type some goddamn text). Applescript was awesome, because its basically just english sentences. Ive always had this idea for an IDE (I think thats what its called - like Netbeans or Eclipse) where as you type, it reads it out to you, and after writing a function, it states "this function performes this action" so, per Applescript,


>type "Tell"


>computer speaks "Tell: function that invokes action by a certain Application."


And if that small reminder isnt enough for me, then I could hit like CTRL+SHFT+Q or something and it pops up a long ass description of the "Tell" block and explains its usage, syntax, and everything else I need to know about it.


I understand that would be a huge project for some languages (lol, I cant imagine trying to do that for Python) but somewhere down the line, Id like to make it to help those that struggle with coding for the same reason I do. And ofcourse, Ill make it open source


I wish such a thing already existed, tho. It would make things much faster for me