Project Treble
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Project Treble separates the vendor implementation (device-specific, lower-level software written by silicon manufacturers) from the Android OS framework via a new vendor interface.
Figure 1. Pre-Treble Android update environment
In Android 7.x and earlier, no formal vendor interface exists so device makers must update large portions of the Android code to move a device to a newer version of Android:
With Treble, a new stable vendor interface provides access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, enabling device makers to deliver new Android releases simply by updating the Android OS framework—without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers:
Figure 2. Treble Android update environment
Google started pouring money and developers into Android in July 2005. Android 8.0 was released in August 2017.
Can we talk about the fact that it took 12 years of continuous development for Android to finally separate the drivers from the OS?
I mean, WTF Google?
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I'm not sure that you understand just how large of an undertaking this was. Completely rewriting the driver interface for an operating system is an immense task. What's worse, nobody's going to buy a new Android phone because this one has a stable vendor interface, so this likely wasn't a big priority for management.
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@anonymous234 So they invented HAL. (Hardware abstraction layer, something every other OS has had for roughly 30 years.)
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@rysto said in Project Treble:
I'm not sure that you understand just how large of an undertaking this was. Completely rewriting the driver interface for an operating system is an immense task.
They picked an OS in the first place that decided the best way to handle drivers was to build them all in the kernel itself.
They made their bed, now they're laying in it. But maybe they shouldn't have picked such a shitty OS as the basis of their product in the first place, huh?
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@blakeyrat said in Project Treble:
They picked an OS in the first place that decided the best way to handle drivers was to build them all in the kernel itself.
Not this misinformed opinion again
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@rysto said in Project Treble:
Completely rewriting the driver interface for an operating system is an immense task
Should have written it right from the beginning, then.
Anyway, we're talking fucking Google here. A company with $167 billion in assets, and a net income of 19 billion dollars per year. And we're talking complete control of the smartphone market here. Probably the most important product ever. I'd literally expect them to build a rocket to Mars if it was somehow necessary to improve Android.
What's worse, nobody's going to buy a new Android phone because this one has a stable vendor interface
Stable vendor interface = phones can now get updates for 10 years instead of 2.
That's kind of a big deal for both users and vendors. Only it's bad for the vendors. Oh well, all that free money couldn't last forever.
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@blakeyrat said in Project Treble:
So they invented HAL. (Hardware abstraction layer, something every other OS has had for roughly 30 years.)
UM ACTUALLY, they re-invented HAL-- which will go just as well as every other time developers re-invent already solved, decades-old concepts.
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@lorne-kates said in Project Treble:
UM ACTUALLY, they re-invented HAL
Have they taught it to sing yet? 'Daisy Daisy' is traditional, I believe.
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@anonymous234 said in Project Treble:
And we're talking complete control of the smartphone market here. Probably the most important product ever.
On the list of important products the smartphone is so far down the list you need a search engine to find it.
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@dragoon said in Project Treble:
you need a search engine to find it.
Can I find it on my smartphone ?
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@anonymous234 said in Project Treble:
@rysto said in Project Treble:
Completely rewriting the driver interface for an operating system is an immense task
Should have written it right from the beginning, then.
I'm not too familiar with Android's internals, but I'd expect that they didn't write the initial version. Android is based off of Linux, which has its own driver API. Linux's driver API has quite a different set of goals from Android's.
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@raceprouk said in Project Treble:
Have they taught it to sing yet?
I'm afraid it can't do that Dave.
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@blakeyrat said in Project Treble:
But maybe they shouldn't have picked such a shitty OS as the basis of their product in the first place, huh?
Yeah, there are plenty of other shitty OSes to pick from!
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@luhmann said in Project Treble:
@raceprouk said in Project Treble:
Have they taught it to sing yet?
I'm afraid it can't do that Dave.
Dave? Dave's not here man.
Wait, wrong movie...
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@nedfodder said in Project Treble:
Wait, wrong movie...