Recommendations for Android wifi tablet?

[Giles Orr]

On 11 August 2011 22:15, Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>  Thanks for all the replies.  One reason I wanted real USB (real SD
> nice but not necessary) is that once you have USB, you have access to
> all peripherals.  E.g. keyboard+mouse (on a tablet!), SD reader, USB
> key, harddrive, etc, etc.  I've got a small 1-to-4 USB port-multiplier,
> so multiple devices can be hung off it simultaneously, if need be.

I don't think this is a good assumption.  Just because you can
physically plug it in doesn't mean that the device will be understood
by the OS.  And - partly answering your next question - Android is not
Linux.

>  Stupid newbie question alert... how close is Android to linux?  I.e.
> can I download a tarball, uncompress it, and...
>
> ./configure --with-various-options && make && make install

Android uses a mostly Linux kernel.  But the graphical interface is
radically different, with the majority of programs built in Java.
Beyond that I can't tell you much more ... except that "configure &&
make && make install" is extremely unlikely to work - especially if
you don't have root.

>  From reading the web, I'm somewhat leary of stuff on little-known
> "app-markets".  The larger communities (e.g. Cyanaogen Mod) appear to
> like the Opens Source community I'm used to, but the smaller sites can
> be dodgy.

The Chinese Android market(s) are loaded with Trojans, and that's made
me quite cautious about the apps I install.  I try to stick with ones
with thousands of positive reviews.  Which guarantees nothing, but
helps a little.

-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
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