Why Android should be in the main Linux kernel #LinuxCon

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BOSTON. Android is often cited as a success story for mobile Linux. Yet, Google’s Android code is no longer part of the mainline Linux kernel.

At LinuxCon, Red Hat engineer Matthew Garrett (pic left) detailed to a standing room only audience, why Android code should return to Linux.

No, Garrett doesn’t work for Google, but he did tell the audience that he did interview for a job working on Android – that he didn’t get.

The entire discussion around why Android is (or isn’t) in the kernel led to some heated debate at the end with Garrett telling one audience member to ‘shut up’ and after the individual did not Garrett asked the person to leave.

Garrett noted that many developers are now targeting Android for all kinds of code. He added that there is all kinds of Android code for power management and other low-level functions that are really interesting.

“As kernel developers we want this code in the kernel,” Garrett said. “When we get code, we get new solutions and sometime you get code that gives new insight to other problems.”

He added that some of Android’s kernel functionality ends up in drivers. Garrett said that’s the code we want to integrate into mainline.

“We want to be able to take Android drivers and have them in the Linux kernel,” Garrett said. “We don’t want there to be a distinction between an Android driver and a Linux driver.”