

Android File System Hierarchy - anantshri
http://anantshri.info/andro/file_system.html
A simple page of Android File System Hierarchy view.
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a3_nm
This is a very good idea. However, the interface isn't very convenient
(especially having to mouse over items to get the description).

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anantshri
I gave a thought of providing a description directly but then it was getting
too messy, If you can suggest an alternate approach i am ready to try it out.

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jerf
The tree controls just get in the way. There is not so much content here that
it justifies needing to click 5 or 10 times just to see it all. When I first
visited the page with NoScript, the tree was actually easier to see because it
defaulted to fully open.

I'd also consider just inlining the "details" too with a simple "dirname -
details" scheme; maybe color them a little differently (I wouldn't even go
nuts, just a dark grey vs. black will be fine, not bright red or anything).
Unfortunately, you've gone through a lot of work to make the content on this
page quite difficult to use :(

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mikle
I don't think an upvote is enough to show that I agree with you. Especially
the last sentence. The info is very interesting, but I gave up after I opened
the first tree.

Another problem jerf's design fixes is that you have no way of telling which
line has a tooltip and which doesn't, and coupled with the fact the tooltips
take a fraction of a second to appear waste my time.

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IgorPartola
Does anyone know the reason for Android not following the LSB standard? Is
this out of necessity or just to be different?

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Palomides
let's spin it the other way: what advantages would following the LSB have?
there is little need for standard linux utilities to be easily ported to
android, the standard utils are not included, and package management is dealt
with in an android-specific way

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a3_nm
> there is little need for standard linux utilities to be easily ported to
> android

There _is_ need for that. I've been trying to ssh to my Android and use it
like I would use a regular computer, and it's a nightmare to set up.

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Lammy
I had no trouble setting this up with QuickSSHd (not affiliated):
[https://market.android.com/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.quicks...](https://market.android.com/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.quicksshd)

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a3_nm
The problem isn't getting ssh access (Cyanogen ships with the dropbear ssh
server), but getting decent userland tools and possibly some form of package
management. This is hard precisely because Android doesn't obey the LSB and
assumes that mostly everything will be done in Java.

It would be very nice to have an OS designed for phones which would be a
standard Linux with additional stuff on top. Sadly, Android is more of a Linux
kernel without standard tools but with a bulky alien Java-based stuff to do
everything.

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nitrogen
_It would be very nice to have an OS designed for phones which would be a
standard Linux with additional stuff on top. Sadly, Android is more of a Linux
kernel without standard tools but with a bulky alien Java-based stuff to do
everything._

Maemo/Meego is/was exactly that: Debian Linux complete with apt, with a tablet
and phone UI.

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cpeterso
Has anyone tried creating a Debian/Android distribution (like
Debian/kFreeBSD)? Mozilla's B2G (Boot To Gecko) OS uses the Android kernel
without the Dalvik VM or frameworks. I don't know what B2G's userland looks
like.

A Debian/kAndroid distro could be what Maemo/Meego wanted to be, but benefit
from Debian's popular userland and Android device support provided by Google
and device manufacturers.

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leoh
Cool, but why can't I see this hierarchy when I plug my HTC Droid into my Mac?
I certainly don't see a /data/data directory, even with ls -a. Do I have to
root the thing?

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hahainternet
You are likely seeing the SD card or 'external storage' contents. The
filesystem isn't exposed without extra work. Rooting of course, gives you
access to write (and read some areas)

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ryanbraganza
I think it would be nicer if the folders were grouped together (at the top).

