Android and Linux

[Matthew Gillen]

On 08/03/2010 09:50 PM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm curious... I don't use an Android phone, but I'm curious if there are
> any packages available for popular linux distributions that allow you to
> integrate your Android phone with Linux Apps.  Is there a utility to backup
> your phone through Linux?  How about synchronizing with popular contact or
> calendar applications?

There are two disk storage areas with android: the internal flash where the
base OS and installed apps reside (don't have write access unless you root
your device), and the SDCard.  The SDCard just shows up as a normal USB
device for linux (and windoze).  The SDCard is where all your pictures,
videos, and other stuff goes.  So as far as backing up the SDCard, rsync
works like a champ.

W.r.t. contacts and calendar, I've gotten lazy and just resigned myself to
google having all my base.  If you use the built-in apps for contacts and
calendar, you can choose to have them automatically synced with your gmail
account.  I tinkered a bit with wammu, but my phone (the Moto A855 / Droid)
isn't supported.

I'm sure there are other apps available for contact and calendar management
that wouldn't be tied in so closely with gmail, but I haven't had the
inclination to look into it.

Matt