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Add to SafariWhen comparing Android vs GNU+Linux, the Slant community recommends Android for most people. In the question“What are the best Operating Systems for x86 PCs?” Android is ranked 4th while GNU+Linux is ranked 17th. The most important reason people chose Android is:
There are about 18000 released devices that run on Android. This means that a user familiar with Android can have a large variety of devices from which they can choose.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Lots of hardware choices
There are about 18000 released devices that run on Android. This means that a user familiar with Android can have a large variety of devices from which they can choose.
Pro Customize what apps perform what actions
Android gives users the ability to define which apps perform which action. For example, if an Android device has several browsers installed, the user can choose a default one which will start every time a link is for example opened from another app.
Pro Open source
The AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is the software stack for the Android OS. It is led by the open handset alliance which includes firms like Google, Acer, NXP, Motorola and many others.
The fact that Android is an open source software has led to many custom Android variants. It also is a big assurance of Android's safety in terms of privacy.
Pro Integration with Google Services
For those that already use Google's services, like Google Maps and GMail, Android offers tighter integration with those services than any of the alternatives, and saves users the need to create extra accounts.
Pro Highly customizable
One of the massive benefits of Android being open-sourced are all the modifications you can make to the phone to customise pretty much anything. Some of the cooler things you can do are:
- Replace the entire operating system with a custom ROM.
- Replace the keyboard.
- Change the home screen launcher.
- Change the lock screen.
Pro Cheap phones
Android phones can cost little as $100.
Pro More integrated sharing options
Pro Desktop and lockscreen widgets
Desktop widgets provide quick access to the information you need quickly and access the most. These are available out of the box, and can be developed by anyone. Widgets on the lockscreen have been removed since the Lollipop update, but is available on 3rd party lockscreens such as AC Display and KK Locker.
Pro Consistent back button makes navigation easy
Pro Personal assistant with Google Now
Google Now is an intelligent personal assistant available within the Google Search mobile application for the Android and iOS operating systems. It's software that makes your life more convenient by giving you all the information you need at any moment.
Pro Accessibility
Built in text to speech is provided by TalkBack for people with low or no vision. Enhancements for people with hearing disabilities are available as are other aids.
Pro The most widely used mobile OS
Pro Great user experience right out of the box
Pro Built-in screen recording
Android 5.0.+ supports screen recording via a new api.
Android 4.4 KitKat supports screen recording accessible via an ADB command on unrooted devices.
Pro Customizable multiple "desktops"
Can customize the home screens with widgets (not just a grid of apps like iOS).
Pro No Backdoors
Since Android is written by a worldwide community of developers it is very unlikly that backdoorss exist for any local governments.
Pro Security updates
Android does frequent updates to keep users secure.
Pro Root
You can root your phone to get full access.
Pro Sideloading of apps
You can sideload apps.
Pro Not bound to Google
It is fully working without the play store or the Google play services.
Pro Highly secure core system
Since Android is open source and developed worldwide, anyone can read the code and there are no government forced backdoors.
Pro Supports plenty of peripherals
You can use external displays with MHL, HDMI, DP or miracast. It supports external storage devices like microSD cards or USB OTG devices. You can also use almost any kind of USB or Bluetooth input devices like keyboards, mice or game controllers.
Pro Gesture based interface
Since Android 10 you can use gestures to control the OS.
Pro Modular
There are major versions of android however the most important components are modular and get frequently updated.
Pro It's all yours
You can do anything you want with YOUR phone.
Pro Unix-like
It is a Unix clone.
Pro Many different desktops to choose
Just use whatever you want. Some are lightweight, others are full of extravagant features. There is a flavor for each taste.
Pro GNU-userland
Uses the same userland as other GNU variants.
Pro Free
You don't have to pay anything.
Cons
Con Fragmentation and security flaws due to negligence
Most Android phones seem to be released on a "Let's release a few software updates until we release the next phone, and never push out an update again." For example, In May 2014, 8.5% of phones were Kitkat, 60.8% were spread out between three versions of jellybean (with bias towards older versions), and the another 20% spread out over ICS, Honeycomb, Gingerbread, and Froyo.
Google no longer maintains Android 4.3 or prior and serious security exploits remain in those versions. Device manufacturers are also taking no action, which leaves almost a billion Android users exposed.
You may also encounter lingering and unfixed bugs, glitches, etc. as a result of the manufacturer's and Google's lack of interest in older versions.
Some flagship phones are well supported into the future, but the fact that your phone won't be supported by its manufacturer and/or Google is a consideration you must make when purchasing an Android phone.
Con Most preinstalled distributions are not open source
Although the AOSP exists, your phone is most likely running a proprietary apps like the GApps or manufacturer specific applications.
Con Owned and abused by Google
Which has very unsafe advanced AI development policies and is known for dodging monopoly and monopoly abuse laws.
Con Wide variety of phones forces variance in quality
While there are many great Android phones, there are also many Android phones that lack in both hardware and software. When purchasing Android phones, a consumer might want to do some research first - especially when buying on a budget. Not only do you have to worry about shotty hardware or poor quality testing, manufacturers tend to tinker with the software on phones. More often than not this leads to poor performance, unintuitive 'features', slower (or complete lack of) updates, and custom software that detracts from the user's experience.
Con GNU Copyleft
The coplyleft in the GNU licenses make it unattractive to many developers. It s also impossible to port GPLed Linux improvements to other more open operating systems like BSD or Haiku.
Con Frankenstein OS
The whole OS is mixed together with software from different sources.
Con Many distributions
There are just too many of them to know.
Con No interface Guidelines
Since there are plenty of X11-Desktop environments and two big Widget Toolkits, every app works and feels differently.
Con Most Distributions are not LSB-conform
The most Distributions don't follow the Linux Standard Base which results in different package formates, package management tools, bootloaders, init-systems or even filesystem hierarchy standards.
Con Often limited by decisions of the Kernel developers
Support for the latest features in Linux is often limited by their kernel developers, for example, Nvidia once had added patches to support Optimus on Linux, however, the kernel developers rejected those patches resulting in still no official Optimus support for Linux.
Con Most 3D drivers are not as fast as their Windows counterparts
The only display driver that comes close to their Windows counterpart is the nvidia driver. Both AMD and Intel drivers miss a Control Panel on Linux to adjust more settings than just your resolution they also usually much slower than their Windows counterparts.
Con Unix-like
It's only a clone and some things work differently.
Con A big mess
10-15 years ago I had everything working on my linux system bluetooth, graphic driver desktop etc.
Nowadays it is just a big mess: Distributions force me to use systemd a system I don't like since it is terrible to debug, KDE and GNOME(and its siblings) have moved even further away from each other no unlike years ago when they used freedesktop to unify things. There are now dozens of different GUI toolkits o choose every one with they own themes and usability(not to mention all the different minor versions like gtk2, 3,4 whatever that look and work all differently). in 2005 i could use bluetooth audio with alsa and no issues on every DE or WM nowadays you need pulseaudio to get it working some applications even need it to play audio. All distributions use different packaging formates (but they do and work all the same). You have now traditional apps and flatpaks, snaps and appimages. There are desktops/distributions that come with wayland preinstalled and the majority still uses X.org.
Con No graphical user-interface
As the most unix systems this also comes without a graphical user interface by default.
Con Not secure
Linux is actually the least secure OS and it is a security nightmare. Windows, MacOS, and ChromeOS are all far more secure.
