Android is potentially a better example. Compare Android to trying to get Linux working on <some random laptop>. You might get lucky and it works out of the box or you might find yourself in a 15 page "how to fix <finger print reader, ambient light sensor, etc>" wiki where you end up compiling a bunch of stuff with random patches.
Afaik Android phones tend to have a lot more hardware than your average laptop, too (cell modem, gps, multiple cameras, gyro, accelerometer, light sensors, finger print readers)
Re:Oxide: The Cloud Computer
by freedomben on Friday October 27, 2023 @12:14PM
(#38040433)
In practice I don't think it's as good as in theory. I had Apple Macbook Pro with Apple Monitor, and 50% of the time when unplugging the monitor the laptop screen would stay off. Plugging back in to the monitor wouldn't work at that point so all I could do was hold the power button to force it off and reboot. That's with Apple controlling the entire stack - software, hardware, etc.
I think the real benefit is being able to move/deprecate/expand at will. For example, want an app that would require special hardware? You can just add it. Want to drop support for old drivers? Just stop selling them and then drop (deprecate) the software support in the next release.
I fully agree about the evilness, and it baffles me how few people do!
Apple is a great example of the benefits of an integrated system where the hardware and software are designed together. There are tons of benefits to that.
What makes Apple evil (IMO, many people disagree) is how everything is secret and proprietary and welded shut. But that doesn't take away from the benefits of an integrated hardware/software ecosystem.
Oxide is open source so it doesn't suffer from the evil aspect but benefits from the goodness of engineered integration. Or so I hope.