Where is the Android on LInux Desktop layer?

Story: Android-x86 Just Might Make a Good Linux Desktop AlternativeTotal Replies: 3
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Browser72

Mar 21, 2014
12:08 PM EDT
I remember in Android's early years, Mark Shuttleworth demo'd the ability to run a few Android apps on Ubuntu. Why is no one working on what should be a relatively easy translation layer? What a way to sell Linux that would be! Here run all of your Andoid apps, plus a full desktop operating system.
Bob_Robertson

Mar 21, 2014
12:51 PM EDT
I can see it now!

AINE: AINE is not an Emulator.

derived from, Andriod Emulator.
jdixon

Mar 21, 2014
1:03 PM EDT
Well, wouldn't the primary requirement be a Dalvik runtime enviroment? I wonder if one exists.

OK, some quick research reveals this article, which may be what Mark was doing: http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Android-on-Ubuntu-Linux-with-...
CFWhitman

Mar 21, 2014
1:49 PM EDT
I would love to see Dalvik (or the new Android virtual machine, Art) ported to Linux for x86, but a Free Software version of such a thing does not seem to be forthcoming.

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as just putting the existing Dalvik for x86 on Linux because the C library and low level support software for Android is incompatible with a conventional Linux distribution. The Android virtual machine would actually have to be ported to GNU/Linux. Since all the software involved is open source there is nothing actually stopping this from happening except the fact that it is a far from trivial task. Still I would have expected more rumblings of it than I've actually heard. Right now the best you can do is either the Android Development Environment/SDK or else Android for x86 on a virtual machine.

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