This week at LWN: Tasting the Ice Cream Sandwich

I wish this reviewer had emphasised the missing pieces in Android/Linux. For me, I don't feel that I can be assured of system security unless I have some tools like packet capture (tcpdump), firewall (iptables), a scriptable environment (to implement monitoring logic), and a root shell in which to run it all.

Gnu/Linux comes complete with all of these tools. With Android/Linux, in my experience, it is a tremendous struggle to get these basic capabilities. It's possible, and I've done it, but it's difficult enough that most users will not bother, and will just accept whatever security (or insecurity) is offered.

Another interesting comparison would be Apple iOS. I have no experience with it whatsoever, but I would like to hear from someone who could explain how easy or hard it is to get basic security tools to run in that environment.

I'm working with an Android development device right here and it has tcpdump in /system/xbin, and a root shell (accessed with "adb shell"). It also has iptables in /system/bin. The environment doesn't seem all that scriptable, however.

Yes, Android/Linux does support the "adb shell", so it is possible to get a usb connection to a root shell on the device. This is good. But look at what you have by comparison with Gnu/Linux: an sshd running on the device out of the box, permitting the flexibility and security needed for remote connections, remote tunnels, point-to-point file transfer, etc.

Good to hear that your device came with a tcpdump installed, mine didn't. Perhaps that varies by provider/manufacturer.

I have ICS running on an early first generation Asus 8GB SSD net book. Works fine, some apps don't run,... I'm looking forward to porting more Linux native tools to it in the future. It's a nice role for that old, out of date machine. And it runs pretty snappy too...

As I said, mine's a development device, not something you can buy in a store.

Quoting:early first generation Asus 8GB SSD net book.

Quoting:that old, out of date machine.

A three to four year old netbook is out of date? Geez! It's still a very useful and capable machine in my books. By that standard every piece of equipment I use in both my home and business is "out of date" yet it seems to work just fine for my needs.

It was out of date when manufactured. It has an underclocked 900Mhz processor. The processor can barely keep up with the GMA945 chipset driving the graphics. Even an Atom N270 is on the weak side. If you want solid performance in a mobile x86 processor, its Atom D510 or better...

LOL. The Atom N270 based system I take everywhere with me is on the "weak side." I didn't know that. Perhaps I should stop using it even though it meets my needs perfectly.

I don't use bloatware much so perhaps I can get away with outdated and weak.

I carry a 9 inch Asus with me everywhere. There's nothing you can do on a Tablet, I can't do on the Asus (except play Angry birds, although that's more by choice I'm sure). Gee I even get to have a higher resolution than the stock 1024x600 (1310x768) that seems to be the norm for most 10 inch devices. In addition I get a real keyboard to type on, and all the software I run on my bigger machines.

Caitlyn,... Check out a net book with a D510 or better, side by side, and you very well may be shocked at the differences in performance,...

Plus, remember I was originally talking talking about a 900 MHz Celeron in my first disparaging post... Don't get me wrong,... I love my little Asus 700 series netbook (800x480 rez, 7 inch diag. screen, mind you). It's perfect for Android-X86 ICS,... I only wish I had; working Ethernet (heard that might be fixed soon), working Voip calling with Google Talk/Voice (including video chat) & better suspend/hibernate functionality (Or was it THAT, that might get fixed soon vs. Ethernet?!?!).

The N270 handles average day to day stuff fine. Video playback (with anything save VLC), medium sized to big spreadsheets, multiple windows open, etc. and the thing starts to screech to just a bit more than a halt. We have three N270 systems in my home. Small, energy efficient,... like 'em. But, I can actually do better on my Acer Iconia A500 for many things we use those systems for. But for light document production, PDF manipulation, etc., they're fine. A D510's better, though, and more energy efficient.

The one thing I miss about my first netbook (a Sylvania g, VIA C7M 1.2 GHz CPU) is the 7" screen size and the very small form factor. I'd seriously consider something like that again (hopefully a more reliable model) if I could find it cheaply enough, even on the used market.

We should start seeing more machines like that in the near future. Clam-shells that are marginally pocketable are actually a nice form factor. The machine that Asus apologized for was that form factor if I'm not mistaken. So was the Viliv N5 (defunct). Or the Umid mbook BZ or SE (also OOB). None of those had adequate drivers for Linux. Many of these new ones will be ARM based through. Many of the x86 ones will run Android or Chrome,... especially because of graphics chipsets that use proprietary cores (Like many Atom processors and virtually all ARM processors).

Quoting:The machine that Asus apologized for was that form factor if I'm not mistaken.

Yes it was.

Quoting:Many of the x86 ones will run Android or Chrome,... especially because of graphics chipsets that use proprietary cores (Like many Atom processors and virtually all ARM processors).

There was an article last week about the ARM SOC graphics chipset commonly used getting FOSS drivers. That would open up the possibilities for what distro to run on those machines.

> The N270 handles > average day to day stuff fine. Video playback (with anything save VLC),...

My netbook is N270 based, and video playback is fine at 480p. It's only 720p and up which cause problems, and even 720p is pushing the limits of your onboard screen real estate with most netbooks.

... medium sized to big spreadsheets, multiple windows open, etc. and the thing starts to screech to just a bit more than a halt.

Mine can handle multiple windows all day. I often have 3 or more open, sometimes as many as half a dozen. I don't use spreadsheets, so can't speak to that.

Hmmm... I use Parole for video playback, including at 720p, full screen, out to a 32" display on my netbook. It seems to work just fine. The fact that I am using a lightweight desktop and a relatively lightweight video player may help.

I don't have the problems described with fairly large spreadsheets either and I do use them in my business. My experience parallels jdixon's with multiple windows.

I'm using an HP Mini 110, 2GB RAM, and a 16GB SSD in lieu of a hard drive.

Quoting: Mine can handle multiple windows all day. I often have 3 or more open, sometimes as many as half a dozen. I don't use spreadsheets, so can't speak to that.

I would have like 5-12 windows open on multiple desktops. Try using the N270 with PDF manipulation tools (pdfsam, for example), with 5-6 windows open... Having 2GB RAM might help, but even my D510 net book (Dell Inspiron Duo) starts to show signs of stress...

> I use Parole for video playback, including at 720p, full screen

To be fair, Caitlyn, I think my netbook is having problems with the video encoding and not the actual display on 720p and up. I'd have to check the video's in question and see how they're encoded to be sure.