ARM as a primary architecture

[elison.niven at gmail.com]

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 2:46 PM, drago01 <drago01 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 9:57 AM, Chris Murphy <lists at colorremedies.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mar 22, 2012, at 2:10 AM, drago01 wrote:
>>>>
>>> Interesting. People I know just using them (tablets) as "toys" to play
>>> some causal games, surf the net & read mails. They go back to there
>>> laptops / desktops to do anything beyond that.
>>
>> Most people don't. It's important to understand most of us on this list aren't most people.
>
> I didn't claim thatI just countered your "my parents example" ...
> basically this kind of "evidence" is moot  ... we need more data to
> judge that.
>
>> Toys?
>
> I said the people I was talking about used them as toys. (Please read
> what I wrote and don't try to refute stuff that isn't even written
> there).
>
>> FAA Approves IPad for Flight Navigation
>> http://www.tabletedia.com/news/2820.html
>>
>> Here's a quote from a doctor: "Even if you’re not at home, you can quickly pick up your phone, view the EKG, and take care of patients remotely."
>> http://www.imedicalapps.com/2011/12/apple-top-iphone-ipad-medical-apps-2011/
>>
>> This is doing 2 minute google searches...
>
> Again see the enterprise part "(it does make sense for some uses
> though)." ... those are those uses. I am not saying tablets are
> useless. I am just saying those are *different* devices.
> You don't replace a plane with a car either.
>
>> People read books on mobile devices. Computers? Ick. I'm not reading a book on a computer. It's unpleasant. I can't read on a mobile device because I need a browser with an average of 34 tabs. Most people lack my lunacy.
>
> Well I'd prefer a real boot or an ereader over a computer or tablet.
>
>>
>>>
>>>> And increasingly less often. Their phone? Can't live without it. It's already a primary device.
>>>
>>> Well people couldn't live without "dumbphones" either so this is
>>> natural progress.
>>
>> They could. They had desktops or laptops. Most people would replace their phone in a day if it broke or were lost. A home computer? Weekend. Maybe next weekend.
>>
>
> Most people that buy smartphones today *do* have laptops / desktoüs.
>
>>> "I agree that we will see more smartphones and tablets in the future"
>>> ... yes no doubt that market still has a potential to grow. I just do
>>> not believe that a significant amount of people will throw there
>>> desktops/laptops away and use tablets / smartphones instead.
>>
>> Most people will. There will be no advantage to a desktop or laptop. So far, speed is all that's really come up. That's going to be a non-issue in a hurry. There's BILLIONS of dollars pouring into mobile and tablet right now. It's what people want.
>
> Actually speed isn't an advantage see the (now dead) netbook hype. For
> most people current speed is "good enough" (hence no need to go buy a
> new computer every year).
>
>>>
>>> Tablets are 99% consumption only devices. Your are missing the
>>> "production market" ... people do use computers to do work, write the
>>> apps that the tablet/smartphone people enjoy etc.
>>
>> Developer market? Image editing and video editing stations? Small markets. Enough to maintain x86? Yeah sure, for a while. But as a majority?
>
> Office, DTP and probably others or in short "content creation".
>
>> Mobile market isn't just syphoning users from the consumer desktop market, it's growing the market.
>>
>>
>>> So no there is still a marked beyond the consumption only devices
>>> (tablets) and the data centers (servers). The world is not black and
>>> white.
>>
>> It is a shrinking market.
>
> it is a saturated marked.
>
>>>
>>>> Thunderbolt on an ARM tablet to connect a larger display, bluetooth keyboard, and internet access and the overwhelming majority can do what they need to do.
>>>
>>> Which is a lot more work then simply open the laptop and start working.
>>
>> Consumers are complicated.
>
> ...
>
>>>> For home users, it has already happened a while ago. They don't need a desktop. They probably don't need a laptop either.
>>>
>>> When home user == "only consumes content" then yes but that is not
>>> necessarily the only use of computers / laptops at home either.
>>
>> It's the majority case. Email, web browser, books, Netflix, and it's a baby sitter. It's like candy multiplied by TV for kids. Way more interesting for them than desktop computers or laptops.
>>
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I see that this discussion has gone from ARM as a primary architecture
for Fedora to a general Tablets vs PC market discussion. IMHO, While
there is no doubt that the tablet/mobile market is growing rapidly,
The desktop and laptops are there to stay.

Considering ARM as a primary architecture for Fedora is not a bad
idea. But Sorry, why is this proposed? Do you intend to run Fedora on
your smartphones or tablets?

I think that making ARM as a primary architecture for Fedora is a lot
of work, I have no idea of the resources available in terms of
developers, machines (in case of native builds),testers etc.

And what will Fedora have achieved after putting in so much work? A
few users (read geeks) who will be willing to install Fedora on their
android tablets or ipads? Are there any ARM boards out in the market
that are waiting to get Fedora installed on them?

Where is the hardware? Do you see signs of ARM boards coming in the
near future (next 1 year or so) on which users can install operating
systems of their choice? If the answer is yes, I would recommend
considering ARM as a primary architecture for Fedora.
If the answer is no, I think it is probably too early to consider ARM
as a primary architecture for Fedora.

Best Regards,
Elison