Mercurial > hg > toybox
annotate www/about.html @ 1572:da1bf31ed322 draft
Tweak the "ignoring return value" fortify workaround for readlinkat.
We zero the buffer and if the link read fails that's left alone, so
it's ok for the symlink not to be there. Unfortunately, typecasting the
return value to (void) doesn't shut up gcc, and having an if(); with the
semicolon on the same line doesn't shut up llvm. (The semicolon on a new
line would, but C does not have significant whitespace and I'm not going
to humor llvm if it plans to start.)
So far, empty curly brackets consistently get the warning to shut up.
| author | Rob Landley <rob@landley.net> |
|---|---|
| date | Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:23:23 -0600 |
| parents | 24d21baf52a3 |
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| rev | line source |
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1 <html><head><title>What is toybox?</title> |
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2 <!--#include file="header.html" --> |
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3 |
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4 <h2><a name="what" />What is toybox?</h2> |
| 226 | 5 |
| 927 | 6 <p>Toybox combines the most common Linux command line utilities together into |
| 7 a single <a href=license.html>BSD-licensed</a> executable. It's simple, small, fast, and reasonably | |
| 8 standards-compliant (<a href=http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799>POSIX-2008</a> and <a href=http://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/LSB_4.1.0>LSB 4.1</a>).</p> | |
| 226 | 9 |
| 927 | 10 <p>Toybox's 1.0 release goal is to turn generic Android into a |
| 11 development environment capable of compiling <a href=http://www.linuxfromscratch.org>Linux From Scratch</a>. | |
| 12 A tiny system <a href=/aboriginal>built from</a> just toybox, linux, <a href=http://musl-libc.org>a C library</a>, and a C compiler (such as LLVM or | |
| 13 gcc 4.2.1+binutils 2.17) should be | |
| 14 able to rebuild itself from source code without needing any other packages.</p> | |
| 226 | 15 |
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16 <b><h2><a name="status" />What commands are implemented in toybox?</h2></b> |
| 226 | 17 |
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18 <p>The current list of commands implemented by toybox is on the |
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19 <a href=status.html>status page</a>, which is updated each release. |
| 927 | 20 There is also <a href=roadmap.html>roadmap</a> listing all planned commands for the |
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21 1.0 release.</p> |
| 226 | 22 |
| 23 <p>In general, configuring toybox for "defconfig" enables all the commands | |
| 24 compete enough to be useful. Configuring "allyesconfig" enables partially | |
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25 implemented commands as well, along with debugging features.</p> |
| 226 | 26 |
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27 <p>Several toybox commands can do things other vesions can't. For example |
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28 the toybox "df" isn't confused by initramfs the way other df implementations |
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29 are. (If initramfs is visible, df shows it like any other mount point.)</p> |
| 230 | 30 |
| 226 | 31 <b><h3>Command Shell</h3></b> |
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32 <p>The toybox shell (toysh) aims to be a reasonable bash replacement. It |
| 226 | 33 implements the "sh" and "toysh" commands, plus the built-in commands "cd" and |
| 34 "exit". This is the largest single sub-project in toybox.</p> | |
| 35 | |
| 36 <p>The following additional commands may be built into the shell (but not as | |
| 37 separate executables): cd, exit, if, while, for, function, fg, bg, jobs, source, | |
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38 <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/alias.html">alias</a>, |
| 226 | 39 export, set, unset, read, trap, and exec. (Note: not done yet.)</p> |
| 40 | |
| 41 </ul> | |
| 42 | |
| 43 <h2><a name="commands" />Which commands are planned?</h2> | |
| 44 | |
| 45 <p>The toybox <a href=todo.txt>todo list</a> mentions many potential commands | |
| 46 which may be added to this project. (Whether that file is readable by anybody | |
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47 but the project's maintainer is open to debate.) The roadmap wiki in the |
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48 nav bar has a more human readable version.</p> |
| 226 | 49 |
| 50 <p>The criteria for a toybox 1.0 release is that a system built from just the | |
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51 Linux kernel, toybox, C library (such as uClibc), and a compiler (such as |
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52 tinycc) can rebuild itself from source code.</p> |
| 226 | 53 |
| 54 <b><h3>Relevant Standards</h3></b> | |
| 55 | |
| 56 <p>Most commands are implemented according to | |
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57 <a href=http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/idx/utilities.html>The |
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58 Single Unix Specification version 4</a> where applicable. This does not mean |
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59 that toybox is implementing every SUSv4 utility: some such as SCCS and ed are |
| 226 | 60 obsolete, while others such as c99 are outside the scope of the project. |
| 61 Toybox also isn't implementing full internationalization support: it should be | |
| 62 8-bit clean and handle UTF-8, but otherwise we leave this to X11 and higher | |
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63 layers. And some things (like $CDPATH support in "cd") await a good |
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64 explanation of why to bother with them. (The standard provides an important |
| 226 | 65 frame of reference, but is not infallable set of commandments to be blindly |
| 66 obeyed.)</p> | |
| 67 | |
| 68 <p>The other major sources of commands are the Linux man pages, and testing | |
| 69 the behavior of existing commands (although not generally looking at their | |
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70 source code), including the commands in Android's toolbox. SUSv4 does not |
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71 include many basic commands such as "mount", "init", and "mke2fs", which are |
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72 kind of nice to have.</p> |
| 226 | 73 |
| 74 <b><h2><a name="downloads" />Download</h2></b> | |
| 75 | |
| 76 <p>This project is maintained as a mercurial archive. To get a copy of the | |
| 77 current development version, either use mercurial (hg clone | |
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78 http://landley.net/hg/toybox) or click on one of the zip/gz/bz2 links |
| 226 | 79 at the top of the <a href=/hg/toybox>mercurial archive browser</a> page to get |
| 80 an archive of the appropriate version. Click | |
| 81 <a href="/hg/toybox?cmd=tags">tags</a> to see all the tagged release | |
| 82 versions ("tip" is the current development version).</p> | |
| 83 | |
| 84 <p>The maintainer's <a href=/notes.html>development log</a> and the project's | |
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85 <a href=http://lists.landley.net/listinfo.cgi/toybox-landley.net>mailing |
| 226 | 86 list</a> are also good ways to track what's going on with the project.</p> |
| 87 | |
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88 <!-- |
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89 <b><h2><a name="why">Why do toybox?</h2></b> |
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90 |
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91 <p>Because smart phones are replacing the PC, and Android must become |
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92 self-hosting to beat the iPhone in establishing the new standard.</p> |
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93 |
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94 <p>This is the third such major transition in computer history: |
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95 (mainframe->minicomputer->microcomputer->smartphone). |
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96 The mainframe was replaced by the minicomputer, which was replaced by |
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97 the microcomputer (renamed the "personal" computer to make clear you could |
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98 access porn through it), which is being replaced by the smartphone. Nobody |
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99 needed to wait for printouts from a big computer in another building when they |
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100 could use a little one down the hall. Then nobody needed the big computer |
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101 down the hall when they had a little one on their desk. Now nobody needs the |
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102 big computer on their desk when they have a little one in their pocket.</p> |
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103 |
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104 <p>The new platform displaces the old when it becomes natively self hosting. |
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105 Often they leverage existing technology: just as early microcmputers used |
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106 teletypes and televisions for output, phones can use |
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107 <a href=http://us.toshiba.com/accessory/PA3575U-1PRP>USB docking stations</a> |
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108 to access a bigger screen, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc. Plugging a phone into |
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109 USB even charges the battery. But to use the phone as a development |
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110 workstation, it needs more software, such as a Posix command line, a native |
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111 compiler, and drivers for the USB peripherals.</p> |
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112 |
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113 <p>The new platform also eventually weans itself off of its dominant language. |
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114 Dalvik is to Android what ROM Basic was to the PC: something it must |
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115 eventually outgrow. Thus toybox is native C code, not Java.</p> |
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116 |
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117 <b><h3>So why aren't self-hosting smartphones attracting more attention?</h3></b> |
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118 |
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119 <p>Because most people are focusing on the legacy platforms, not on the new |
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120 stuff. Existing multi-billion dollar industries are getting evicted from their |
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121 decades-old established niche, and are trying to spin the transition as an |
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122 opportunity instead of a forced march onto reservations. When elephants run |
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123 from mice, it's easier to notice the elephants.</p> |
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124 |
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125 <p>History's our guide here: the previous technology always gets kicked up into |
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126 the "server space", moving from "the thing you stood in front of waiting for |
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127 your printout" to "that thing you sometimes accessed remotely via the new |
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128 computer". This time around they're calling it "the cloud" and pretending it's |
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129 a big deal; it's really just a beowulf cluster with a layer of |
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130 virtualization/containerization software implementing hotplug hardware and |
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131 live migration to provide cheap |
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132 commodity processing power that dominant players (like amazon) literally |
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133 give away for free. These old machines become secondary, only |
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134 accessed through the new machines users now directly interact with.</p> |
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135 |
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136 <p>Since there's only one server space, the mainframe ate the minicomputer in |
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137 the 1980's (when DEC went under), and this time around "the cloud" seems to be |
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138 eating the mainframe (IBM ain't happy). The inevitable consolidation leads |
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139 to drama, but doesn't mean much in the long run.</p> |
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140 |
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141 <p><a href=http://landley.net/notes-2012.html#12-07-2012>For more |
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142 on this topic...</a></p> |
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143 |
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144 <b><h3><a name="why_android">Why is Android important?</h2></b> |
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145 |
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146 <p>Major hardware transitions introduce |
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147 <a href=http://landley.net/notes-2011.html#26-06-2011>new software |
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148 standards</a> which are extremely sticky once |
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149 established, due to network effects.</p> |
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150 |
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151 <p>Last time around, the PC was stuck with |
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152 a proprietary operating system (DOS/Windows) which is still dominant on that |
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153 hardware platform's descendants 30 years later. This time around, the choice |
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154 is between Android (a Linux derivative) and iPhone (a closed BSD fork ala |
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155 SunOS, put out by a company already engaged in multiple aggressive IP lawsuits). |
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156 The main difference between Apple and Microsoft is that Apple is competent.</p> |
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157 |
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158 <p>And yes, it has to be Android, it won't be vanilla Linux any time soon, |
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159 for three reasons. 1) <a href=http://landley.net/notes-2010.html#13-08-2010>Open |
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160 Source can't do user interfaces</a> for about the same reason wikipedia can't |
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161 write a novel, 2) it's too late to the |
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162 party (a 5 year headstart is forever in computers), 3) preinstalls matter |
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163 (GPLv3 spooked all the hardware vendors, Android has a "no GPL in |
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164 userspace" policy which is rigidly enforced).</p> |
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165 |
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166 <p>And "any time soon" is important: attempting to displace an existing |
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167 entrenched de-facto standard is what linux has spent the last 20 |
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168 years trying (and failing) to do on the desktop. Spending another 20 |
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169 years fighting for less than 1% of the phone market would just be sad.</p> |
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170 |
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171 <b><h3><a name="how_google">How is Google less evil than Apple?</h3></b> |
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172 |
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173 <p>Because Android isn't Google's core business, attaching advertising to large |
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174 scale data searches is. Android and Chrome and such are Google's way of |
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175 "commoditizing their co-factors" to drive down the price of ingredients |
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176 to their core business.</p> |
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177 |
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178 <p>Thus Google is pursuing a commodity market and encouring as many vendors as |
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179 possible to participate, not to control the new space but to hold it open, |
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180 so that its search products are widely available without requiring the |
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181 permission of some other monopoly gatekeeper. Apple is attemping to corner the |
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182 smartphone market and extract monopoly rents, excluding all |
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183 vendors except itself.</p> |
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184 |
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185 <p>So if Google wins we get a commodity market in smartphone/tablet software, |
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186 and may be able to open it further in future. If Apple wins we get a proprietary |
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187 smartphone/tablet OS with a single monopoly vendor, which is likely to close it |
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188 further.</p> |
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189 |
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190 <b><h3>Why not just use BusyBox?</h3></b> |
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191 |
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192 <p>Android can't. Busybox predates android |
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193 by many years; if they were ever going to ship it they'd have done so by |
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194 now. Android has had a "No GPL in Userspace" policy ever since GPLv3 |
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195 came out (before the first Android phone shipped), and they mean it.</p> |
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196 |
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197 <p>Toybox also has a better design and simpler code. I did both |
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198 and this is the one I enjoy banging on; I tried to contribute a few things |
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199 to busybox and it was like crawling through a thornbush of #ifdefs. Busybox |
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200 development is just no fun anymore.</p> |
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201 |
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202 --> |
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203 |
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204 <b><h2><a name="toycans" />What's the toybox logo image?</h2></b> |
| 227 | 205 |
| 206 <p>It's <a href=toycans-big.jpg>carefully stacked soda cans</a>. Specifically, | |
| 207 it's a bunch of the original "Coke Zero" and "Pepsi One" cans, circa 2006, | |
| 228 | 208 stacked to spell out the binary values of the ascii string "Toybox", with |
| 209 null terminator at the bottom. (The big picture's on it's side because | |
| 210 the camera was held sideways to get a better shot.)</p> | |
| 211 | |
| 212 <p>No, it's not photoshopped, I actually had these cans until a coworker | |
| 213 who Totally Did Not Get It <sup><font size=-3><a href=http://www.timesys.com>tm</a></font></sup> threw them out one day after I'd gone home, | |
| 214 thinking they were recycling. (I still have two of each kind, but | |
| 215 Pepsi One seems discontinued and Coke Zero switched its can color | |
| 216 from black to grey, presumably in celebration. It was fun while it lasted...)</p> | |
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217 |
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218 <!--#include file="footer.html" --> |