[SRR500]

I'm considering giving Android a try. I tried an Android phone a few months back but hated the phone so much that I didn't get the chance to give the os a fair run. I was getting excited about the new BBs that are coming out until I heard about Bing being shoved down my throat. (I hope I'm wrong and misunderstood what I was reading)

I have a questions about the os.

How dependent on Windows is Android? Right now I have a partition with Windows on it and the only time I boot it up is to reload the os on my BB. (which isn't very often) Would a switch to Android allow me to reclaim that space on my hard drive? I'm referring mainly to rooting, installing custom roms and/or os upgrades.

The main os on my computer is Kubuntu. I would think that desktop Linux and Android would play well together.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has an answer for me.

[DenverRalphy]

I rooted my Dinc from my linux box (I'm an OpenSuSE user). It was rather painless. You can find help in rooting your device from the xda forums. Plenty of linux users/developers there.

Android is not dependent on Windows at all. There's nothing you need from Windows to support an Android device.

[SRR500]

Thanks rmjones100.

That info is a big help. My hard drive is getting full and it would be nice to have that 13 gigs added back to /home.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[scorpiodsu]

Just about everything on Android can be done over the air or from memory card storage. There are some things depending on the device and method (such as rooting) that may require stuff to be downloaded to your computer then moved to your sd card. But nothing that would require you to hold that space up for long. I sync all my media OTA and it can be done with a program that doesn't hold space and all carrier updates are OTA. It's a platform that can really stand on it's own.

[SRR500]

So what you guys are saying is that Android does NOT require a program like Desktop Manager to access the device? Everything is done by the device itself, but it might require something to be placed on the sd card via drag and drop.

That sounds like a real benefit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[scorpiodsu]

So what you guys are saying is that Android does NOT require a program like Desktop Manager to access the device? Everything is done by the device itself, but it might require something to be placed on the sd card via drag and drop.

That sounds like a real benefit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Correct. Don't need a desktop manager and there isn't one that exists by Google for the platform. All your info like email, contacts and calendars that are related to your google account are synced OTA so no additional software required. And if you use outlook on your computer, you can set up google sync to push all that info to your google account which then pushes it to your phone. And drag and drop is required depending on what you are doing. For instance, I had to download a file for a customer ROM. it was over 300MB so I downloaded it on my computer fast and then moved it. But others chose to download it directly on their phone. And in some cases you may need the computer to modify file names or change formats. But other than that most things are accomplished without needing programs on your computer.

[papped]

I recommend learning how to use adb though, especially if you are going to root and stuff... There's no "Desktop Manager" interface but adb is kinda the equivalent of a command line javaloader.

[pixel8rberry]

You WILL need windows to update OS if you get a Samsung phone (unless they invest in developing a linux/OSx updater version). I found that out the hard way few days ago. Other than that, I've had my phone for almost a year now and never needed a windows computer or desktop manager to transfer files or sync emails and calendars (all of that is done automatically). SD cards, both internal and external, act like portable hard drives.

[anon(19759)]

If you get involved in rooting and customizing, you will need a desktop for certain things, like ADB and some rooting procedures and flashing certain devices back to stock. After I rooted my Droid Incredible, not sure I ever plugged it back into my pc. Now that's my wifes and my Droid Pro doesn't get plugged in to the pc any more either. Now that I have Airsync for doubletwist, I have no need to plug it in.

[DenverRalphy]

I recommend learning how to use adb though, especially if you are going to root and stuff... There's no "Desktop Manager" interface but adb is kinda the equivalent of a command line javaloader.

Since the OP is a Linux user, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's really not much for him to learn about the adb tool.

[papped]

Yeah, basically though you still end up relying on the android sdk + adb, which isn't that far of a step from desktop manager + javaloader.

It's not entirely "free". If anything, I wish android had a desktop client in addition. It's more of a con that it doesn't than a pro...

[marco.ramirez]

but... anyones can tell me. if i have a blackberry how can i sync my calendar, contacts, task, etc....