FLUTTER (if successful) will game change in favor of Linux

#1

Greetings,

I had no idea that development on something like Flutter has already been underway.

In a nutshell it's a way for developers to create one app that fits all. Create an iOS app... and it will also work on Android... and also work on Mac OS... and also work on Windows 10... and also work on Linux.

If this isn't a pipe dream but very real and possible... WOW. The way I see it --

  1. The biggest shortcoming of Linux is the lack of apps. This is a silly example but imagine if every iOS and Android weather app also worked in Linux? Spotify or Apple Music or Netflix were all 'native' to Linux? Flutter would (eventually) fix the app gap and suddenly --

  2. -- Windows users will have a choice between a bloated not so secure platform (Windows 10) and a lean much faster OS that is more secure and less spyware-y. But with plenty of apps. Oh, and speaking of that --

  3. -- the entire point of Chrome OS is to offer such a lean Linux like system -- but -- it's at the cost of privacy. Big Broogle. But a Linux OS full of these new apps can simply be installed over a Chrome book and you get your privacy back.

  4. With apps like this a third phone OS may emerge, which is private (like Apple) but priced like Android. So called 'privacy' is one of the last decent reasons to consider iPhone. Flutter would make that sort of irrelevant.

#2

Hi,
first of all, thanks for this interesting topic. However, this post belongs to the uncategorized section of this forum. This is not related to thoughts and feedback about the Ubuntu MATE distribution. Please move it to the right section as it might be more visible.

Then, yes, it's a cool project.
1 - Linux indeed could have more apps. However you can reduce the «app gap» with progressive web apps. Takes 3 clicks to create one using a chromium browser and then you can use Netflix or whatever like you would on an app. MINT are even working on their own tool to achieve this.

2/3 - If you're into privacy, It doesn't make much sense to bloat your linux install with apps that may be full of trackers and require weird permissions. Maintaining the balance between privacy and convenience is hard nowadays.

4 - Apple are making progress in the privacy domain and base their marketing on it these days and they may not be as bad as Google but still, it's no GrapheneOS or /e/ and prices remain hilarious. Then, I don't see much room for a new operating system battling against the two giants. There will be a niche market for Linux phones with distros that will likely benefit from Flutter but I dont imagine them taking over the market.

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#3

Amen to that! I have no Social media on my installation. Use a mobile phone for that, it tracks everything you do anyway.

#4
  1. I'm all about PWAs. Five years ago I dumped iOS and Mac OS (after 29 years of faithful Mac-ness) and found myself in a world where my phone was all Android but my PC was all PC. Windows 10 had just been introduced and I wasn't so impressed with Windows native apps like 'Mail'. Buggy. Primitive.

Then the world of PWAs was revealed to me. Instead of worrying about contacts or email or map locations syncing from my phone to PC -- I just pinned those Google pages to my taskbar. BOOM, as Steve Jobs used to say. IT JUST WORKS.

  1. Privacy is essentially a myth at this point, but I think a lot of people would prefer a Linux distro that has access to all your phone apps and doesn't marry you into the Google ecosystem.
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