Linux and Android, Together at Last

Linux and Android are two closely linked open-source projects, but they've been as notable for how distant they are from each other-until yesterday. That's when Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project, released a version of the operating system core that bridges between the two worlds. Version 3.3 of the Linux kernel is the beginning of the end of isolation between these two projects.

Down under the covers, every Android phone is a Linux phone. Although programmers writing Android apps generally use a Java-like interface, a Google-customized version of Linux handles underlying details such as keyboard input, multitasking among different chores, and keeping needed data readily at hand in memory. But Google's Android work has been a "fork"-a separate code base that's branched off from the main repository Torvalds oversees at the Kernel.org Web site.

The result of merging Google's Android Linux with Torvalds "mainline" version, if all goes well, should be easier programming and therefore faster progress for all parties involved. Google can benefit from new features added to mainline Linux sooner and with fewer hassles keeping its code in sync with the mainline kernel. And others using Linux in mobile devices can benefit from improvements that previously had to be retrieved from Google's separate fork.