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Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?

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  Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-12 15:43 +0000
    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-12 15:49 +0000
    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Wildman <best_lay@yahoo.com> - 2018-10-12 11:04 -0500
      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-12 17:52 +0000
        Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? ray carter <ray@zianet.com> - 2018-10-12 21:20 +0000
          Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2018-10-12 20:10 -0400
            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-13 01:52 +0000
              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-15 04:42 +0200
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-15 09:53 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-15 10:41 +0000
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-15 10:34 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be> - 2018-10-15 12:45 +0200
                    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-15 11:01 +0000
                      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-15 11:14 +0000
                        Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-15 12:19 +0000
                          Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-15 15:03 +0200
                            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-15 13:15 +0000
                              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Wildman <best_lay@yahoo.com> - 2018-10-15 09:33 -0500
                                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-15 14:41 +0000
                              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-15 23:27 +0200
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-15 10:59 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-15 15:04 +0200
            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2018-10-13 01:53 +0000
              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-13 03:34 +0000
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-13 04:44 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-14 15:36 +0000
      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-12 18:48 +0000
        Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-15 10:50 +0000
    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-19 23:42 +0000
      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-20 00:20 +0000
        Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-20 03:15 +0000
          Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-20 16:13 +0000
            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-20 18:13 +0000
              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2018-10-20 18:43 +0000
            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-21 13:14 +0200
            Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> - 2018-10-21 15:45 +0200
              Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-21 18:29 +0000
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> - 2018-10-21 22:39 +0200
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-21 22:56 +0200
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> - 2018-10-21 23:20 +0200
                    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-22 09:25 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen    Holder <a%rlenh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-10-21 23:14 +0000
                    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-22 09:27 +0000
                      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? RonB <ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com> - 2018-10-23 00:49 +0000
                    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? RonB <ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com> - 2018-10-23 00:47 +0000
                      Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-23 13:00 +0200
                        Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2019-05-09 15:40 +0000
                          Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2019-05-09 20:47 +0200
                Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> - 2018-10-22 09:23 +0000
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2018-10-22 13:12 +0200
                  Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB? "R.Wieser" <address@not.available> - 2018-10-22 13:49 +0200
    Re: Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?  Arlen_Holder <a%rle%20nh.older@no.spam.net> - 2018-11-02 15:21 +0000

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#51227 — Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android filesystem plugged into USB?

Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android
filesystem plugged into USB?

The problem set and the current workarounds are already stated here, for
Windows, but the situation is exactly the same for Ubuntu.
 From the desktop OS: 
 *How can we open a Linux command line on the Android filesystem?*
 <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/vmWWLzPHKt0>

The question for this ng is how to run a command from Ubuntu 18.04 on the
Android file system plugged into the desktop USB port as an MTP device?

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#51228

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 15:43:51 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> The question for this ng is how to run a command from Ubuntu 18.04 on the
> Android file system plugged into the desktop USB port as an MTP device?

Drat. 

Please ignore this thread as that post was created yesterday and was,
apparently, still in my drafts folder, which must have been accidentally
sent today when I hit "send all" on another thread elsewhere.

I had already solved the problem on Linux (where "Ubuntu just works").
  Dualbooting to Ubuntu where the command line works fine on
  the Android filesystem from Linux - but not from Windows:
  <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6181360dir01.jpg>

Sorry for the thread - where all I want - in the end - is for Windows to
run a DOS command like Linux does, on the Android file system over USB.
  <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9648761dir.jpg>

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#51229

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 15:43:51 +0000, Arlen    Holder wrote:

> Do you already know how to run a Linux command (like ls) on the Android
> filesystem plugged into USB?
> 
> The problem set and the current workarounds are already stated here, for
> Windows, but the situation is exactly the same for Ubuntu.
>  From the desktop OS: 
>  *How can we open a Linux command line on the Android filesystem?*
>  <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/vmWWLzPHKt0>
> 
> The question for this ng is how to run a command from Ubuntu 18.04 on the
> Android file system plugged into the desktop USB port as an MTP device?

I would either browse to the mount point using Nautilus
and open a terminal in that directory via context menu
or just open the terminal and change to the mount point
using the cd command.  From there run the command(s).

-- 
<Wildman> GNU/Linux user #557453
The cow died so I don't need your bull!

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#51231

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 11:04:24 -0500, Wildman wrote:

> I would either browse to the mount point using Nautilus
> and open a terminal in that directory via context menu
> or just open the terminal and change to the mount point
> using the cd command.  From there run the command(s).

Thanks. That post was written yesterday when I didn't have it tested, where
it works fine.

The Linux question is what "magic" is on Ubuntu that isn't on Windows that
allows this to work with dual-boot Ubuntu 18.04 but not Windows 10?

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#51233

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 17:52:26 +0000, Arlen    Holder wrote:

> On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 11:04:24 -0500, Wildman wrote:
> 
>> I would either browse to the mount point using Nautilus and open a
>> terminal in that directory via context menu or just open the terminal
>> and change to the mount point using the cd command.  From there run the
>> command(s).
> 
> Thanks. That post was written yesterday when I didn't have it tested,
> where it works fine.
> 
> The Linux question is what "magic" is on Ubuntu that isn't on Windows
> that allows this to work with dual-boot Ubuntu 18.04 but not Windows 10?

The 'magic' is that - on linux, everything is a file.

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#51242

ray carter wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 17:52:26 +0000, Arlen    Holder wrote:
> 
>> On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 11:04:24 -0500, Wildman wrote:
>>
>>> I would either browse to the mount point using Nautilus and open a
>>> terminal in that directory via context menu or just open the terminal
>>> and change to the mount point using the cd command.  From there run the
>>> command(s).
>> Thanks. That post was written yesterday when I didn't have it tested,
>> where it works fine.
>>
>> The Linux question is what "magic" is on Ubuntu that isn't on Windows
>> that allows this to work with dual-boot Ubuntu 18.04 but not Windows 10?
> 
> The 'magic' is that - on linux, everything is a file.

The same approach has been used in Linux (and Unix) a
number of times.

A new thing is exposed as a command-line-only feature first.

You cannot see the files initially in a file manager.
We used to work with floppy drives with MTOOLS, and
there was a utility for working with Mac HFS which
were like this. Today, mounting a floppy is transparent
(and visible in your file manager), as is the Mac stuff.

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/mtp-tools.1.html

The other way is with MTPFS, which aligns with your
statement about "magic". In the fullness of time, indeed,
everything is a file.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Media_Transfer_Protocol

And the Linux way, is to fake any necessary parameters,
so that stat() always returns a sensible result. NTFS
doesn't have inodes for example. If you mount NTFS and
list inodes, you receive unique numbers for your trouble.
What are those numbers ? They're the filenum# field from
NTFS, stuffed in as an inode number. This solves the
problem of providing a unique number for the inode number,
even though there is no intention of actually using
inode operations (as NTFS doesn't have inodes).

I can't imagine how they would have back-filled MTP while
doing MTPFS :-) Think of the stuff that would be missing.
Must have been a horror show.

    Paul

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#51245

On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:10:41 -0400, Paul wrote:

> The other way is with MTPFS, which aligns with your
> statement about "magic". In the fullness of time, indeed,
> everything is a file.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for those useful pointers for how MTP works on Ubuntu 18.04.

As you know, the technical solution I see is a very _hard_ question to
answer, which is why the many Windows (& a few Linux) trolls will have a
field day (since all they _can_ do, is troll).

I'm trying to move the technical ball forward, which isn't easy.

Hence, on this Linux thread, I will not respond to the worthless trolls
with the hope of alienating them - I will only respond to those intelligent
people who are purposefully helpful - where - for Linux - the trick is to
figure out what exactly makes it work for Linux (and then see if _that_ can
be implemented universally, on Windows).

To be clear, I read what was written prior, where the "magic" is supposed
to be that Linux treats the Android file system as a "file"; but I don't
comprehend that answer well enough to turn it into a solution on Windows.

Do you?
Without a solution, this will be just a worthless chit-chat thread.

This description of the difference between libmtp & libgphoto2 says the
same thing, which is that "the unix way" is that "everything is a file".
 <http://libmtp.sourceforge.net>

But that doesn't, yet, help me implement a _solution_ to the problem.

Looking at your 1st URL to see where we can come up with a solution...
 <http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/mtp-tools.1.html>
That seems to make use of the libmtp package which is used by:
o MTPfs FUSE filesystem <https://www.adebenham.com/mtpfs/>
o Android libmtp client <https://github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs>
o MTP support on KDE <https://cgit.kde.org/kio-mtp.git>
o MTPdude file transfer utility <http://mtpdude.sourceforge.net>
o The GNOME Virtual file system <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GVfs>
o XNJB Mac OS X GUI <http://www.wentnet.com/projects/xnjb/>
o GTK+ music manager <http://gnomad2.sourceforge.net>
o Amarok KDE music player <https://amarok.kde.org>
o Rhythmbox Gnome music player <https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Rhythmbox>
o MTPSync file synchronizer <https://www.adebenham.com/mtpsync/>
o JMTP FS <https://github.com/JasonFerrara/jmtpfs>

This is good information, Paul, because it tells us that "libmtp" is key.
It also tells us that MTPFS uses "libtmp", so again, "libtmp" seems key.

Looking at your second URL:
 <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Media_Transfer_Protocol>
We find there are a few Android related "FUSE" filesystems for Linux:
o fb-adb Android Linux shell <https://github.com/facebook/fb-adb>
o gphotofs Camera Linux mount <http://www.gphoto.org/proj/gphotofs/>

But mostly, if we want an actual solution (rather than just idle chitchat),
I need to focus on one of these three:
o libmtp library MTP implementation <http://libmtp.sourceforge.net>
o AFT MTP client <https://whoozle.github.io/android-file-transfer-linux/>
o go-mtpfs MTP FUSE filesystem <https://github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs>

Given that information above, I think I'll first approach trying to get one
of those three solutions to work on Windows, if that's even possible.

Thanks for your insight in this difficult problem that, to my knowledge,
has not yet been solved universally on Windows over USB (but which does
have proprietary solutions so we _know_ it's possible).

Also, it has always been possible to map Android as a drive using a
*server* on Android (such as an FTP server, WebDav server, HTTP server, and
even, but only if you're rooted, an SMB server):
 How to Map or Mount Android as a Drive on Windows
 <https://www.guidingtech.com/39472/map-android-drive-windows/>
 <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theolivetree.webdavserver>

The goal was never to add a server to the Android system; so these
solutions, while they work, are out of scope. The solution you pointed to,
if it works on Windows, is the correct scope, namely:
o libmtp
o aftmtp
o go-mtp fs

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#51300

On 13/10/2018 03.52, Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Oct 2018 20:10:41 -0400, Paul wrote:
> 
>> The other way is with MTPFS, which aligns with your
>> statement about "magic". In the fullness of time, indeed,
>> everything is a file.
> 
> Hi Paul,
> 
> Thanks for those useful pointers for how MTP works on Ubuntu 18.04.
> 
> As you know, the technical solution I see is a very _hard_ question to
> answer, which is why the many Windows (& a few Linux) trolls will have a
> field day (since all they _can_ do, is troll).
> 
> I'm trying to move the technical ball forward, which isn't easy.
> 
> Hence, on this Linux thread, I will not respond to the worthless trolls
> with the hope of alienating them - I will only respond to those intelligent
> people who are purposefully helpful - where - for Linux - the trick is to
> figure out what exactly makes it work for Linux (and then see if _that_ can
> be implemented universally, on Windows).
> 
> To be clear, I read what was written prior, where the "magic" is supposed
> to be that Linux treats the Android file system as a "file"; but I don't
> comprehend that answer well enough to turn it into a solution on Windows.
> 
> Do you?
> Without a solution, this will be just a worthless chit-chat thread.

Is this going to be another of your eternal threads spiced with insults
to those you do not like what they say?

There is no magic.

It is simply that somebody took the time and pain to implement an MTP
file layer, so that ANY Linux tool designed to do standard operations on
files work on what it appears to it to be just another directory, which
happens to be on an Android gadget connected via cable.

Whereas those people at Windows only designed a file browser to do some
file operations, in a way that no other tool can use it, being
"private". Any other tool (another file browser, a photo management tool
perhaps) has to design its own layer again, or perhaps, pay the first
people to use the API and libraries.

Unless it is Microsoft who does the work and exposes the layer, but only
those tools that explicitly know how to use that precise layer will use
it...


Linux has been designed from the start with a thing called VFS. All
filesystems, real or emulated, are handled via this layer. Android MTP,
is just another one.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_file_system>

A Virtual File System (VFS) or virtual filesystem switch is an
abstraction layer on top of a more concrete file system. The purpose of
a VFS is to allow client applications to access different types of
concrete file systems in a uniform way. A VFS can, for example, be used
to access local and network storage devices transparently without the
client application noticing the difference. It can be used to bridge the
differences in Windows, classic Mac OS/macOS and Unix filesystems, so
that applications can access files on local file systems of those types
without having to know what type of file system they are accessing.

A VFS specifies an interface (or a "contract") between the kernel and a
concrete file system. Therefore, it is easy to add support for new file
system types to the kernel simply by fulfilling the contract. The terms
of the contract might change incompatibly from release to release, which
would require that concrete file system support be recompiled, and
possibly modified before recompilation, to allow it to work with a new
release of the operating system; or the supplier of the operating system
might make only backward-compatible changes to the contract, so that
concrete file system support built for a given release of the operating
system would work with future versions of the operating system.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#51305

Carlos E.R. wrote:
> [...]
> Is this going to be another of your eternal threads spiced with insults
> to those you do not like what they say?

Yes. :)

> [...]
> Linux has been designed from the start with a thing called VFS. All
> filesystems, real or emulated, are handled via this layer. Android MTP,
> is just another one.

And now 'fuse' finally makes sense.


-- 
|_|O|_| Registered Linux user #585947
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5  4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

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#51308

On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 09:53:11 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:

> And now 'fuse' finally makes sense.

I ran a score of experiments, where every test on Linux worked fine,
proving that a universal solution already exists for Linux users:
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6181360dir01.jpg>

On Windows, a solution exists, but it's not universal in that it's
proprietary in that it involves non-universally applicable crippleware:
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9648761dir.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6181360dir01.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1853998dir02.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8315262dir03.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8605173dir05.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7687244dir06.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7075400dir07.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=3316456dir08.jpg>
 <http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=3168139ftpd.jpg>

At this point, since the one test worked perfectly for my needs, I have
shelved the noble attempt to outline a more universal solution for Windows
that solves all users' problem set, not just mine.

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#51307

On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 04:42:14 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> Is this going to be another of your eternal threads spiced with insults
> to those you do not like what they say?

You clearly misunderstand the basic concept of a funnel & of a mirror.

> It is simply that somebody took the time and pain to implement an MTP
> file layer, so that ANY Linux tool designed to do standard operations on
> files work on what it appears to it to be just another directory, which
> happens to be on an Android gadget connected via cable.

I clearly don't yet understand the basic concept of "everything is a file".

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#51309

On Monday 15 October 2018 12:34, Arlen Holder conveyed the following to 
alt.os.linux...

> On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 04:42:14 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> 
>> It is simply that somebody took the time and pain to implement an MTP
>> file layer, so that ANY Linux tool designed to do standard operations
>> on files work on what it appears to it to be just another directory,
>> which happens to be on an Android gadget connected via cable.
> 
> I clearly don't yet understand the basic concept of "everything is a
> file".

It actually goes deeper than that everything is a file.  In the kernel 
of UNIX operating systems, everything ─ and I do mean "everything" ─ is 
a stream of bytes, and streams of bytes can therefore be regarded as 
files for presentation to userspace.  

Unlike in DOS ─ I'm not familiar enough with Microsoft Windows to know 
how it is there ─ files are not terminated by an End-Of-File (EOF) 
character.  Instead, UNIX processes the stream of bytes until it 
receives an End-Of-Transmission character (EOT) ─ commonly ^D (Ctrl+D).

The principle of everything being presentable to userspace as a file can 
already be found again in how a UNIX operating system ─ and in this case 
specifically, GNU/Linux ─ addresses storage devices.

For instance, the first detected SCSI/SAS/SATA/PATA hard disk in your 
system is /dev/sda.  That is a file.  The first primary partition on 
/dev/sda is /dev/sda1.  That, too, is a file.  You can even have named 
pipes as filesystem objects.  And as such, all of those things can be 
manipulated in the same way as any other file can be manipulated.  They 
can be opened, and bytes can be read from them or written to them.

-- 
With respect,
= Aragorn =

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#51312

On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 12:45:53 +0200, Aragorn wrote:

> "everything" € is 
> a stream of bytes, and streams of bytes can therefore be regarded as 
> files for presentation to userspace.

Thank you for the clarification, where, the net result of a scores of
experiments was that, on Linux, "everything just works" in terms of
"running a command" directly on the Android filesystem.

On Windows, over Wi-Fi, it was always the case that:
- Android WebDav/HTTP/HTTPs servers worked just fine
- Android FTP/SSH servers worked fine (for the most part)
- Android SMB/CIFs/Samba servers universally fail (unless rooted)
etc.

And, to the original point, on Windows, over USB:
- The only solution that worked was the MTPDrive crippleware

That is, while "general solutions" abound for Linux, no "general solution"
was found, for Windows. (yet)

As a general solution is _always_ the goal, even though I/we easily
succeeded in solving my original problem, I admit that I/we failed to find
the more general Windows/Android solution that solves everyone's problem.

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#51313

Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 12:45:53 +0200, Aragorn wrote:
>
>> "everything" is a stream of bytes, and streams of bytes can therefore
>> be regarded as files for presentation to userspace.
>
> That is, while "general solutions" abound for Linux, no "general solution"
> was found, for Windows. (yet)

"Format and install Linux" <-- the general solution to all problems in
Windows.


-- 
|_|O|_| Registered Linux user #585947
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5  4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

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#51314

On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 11:14:40 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:

> "Format and install Linux" <-- the general solution to all problems in
> Windows.

Hi Dan Purgert,

Your humor, as always, is hilarious for children of the fifth grade
(hence, always useless in terms of providing any semblance of adult value).

This is my _last_ response in this thread to worthless trolls, Dan Purgert.

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#51316

On 15/10/2018 14.19, Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 11:14:40 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:
> 
>> "Format and install Linux" <-- the general solution to all problems in
>> Windows.
> 
> Hi Dan Purgert,
> 
> Your humor, as always, is hilarious for children of the fifth grade
> (hence, always useless in terms of providing any semblance of adult value).
> 
> This is my _last_ response in this thread to worthless trolls, Dan Purgert.
> 

There you go as usual.

Which is a pity, because he posted the correct answer to your question
in another post.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#51318

Carlos E.R. wrote:
> [...]
> Which is a pity, because he posted the correct answer to your question
> in another post.

To be fair, "just use Linux" is a fine solution, given

 - Linux does what is wanted out of the box (or with an added package or
   two)
 - Windows support, even with additional packages, is spotty at best
 - This is a linux newsgroup. (or at least "alt.os.linux" implies it's
   for linux; maybe I'm wrong?)


-- 
|_|O|_| Registered Linux user #585947
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5  4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

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#51319

On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 13:15:34 +0000, Dan Purgert wrote:

>  - This is a linux newsgroup. (or at least "alt.os.linux" implies it's
>    for linux; maybe I'm wrong?)

It has been turned into a private blog.

-- 
<Wildman> GNU/Linux user #557453
The cow died so I don't need your bull!

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#51320

Wildman wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 13:15:34 +0000, Dan Purgert wrote:
>
>>  - This is a linux newsgroup. (or at least "alt.os.linux" implies it's
>>    for linux; maybe I'm wrong?)
>
> It has been turned into a private blog.

Ugh :(

-- 
|_|O|_| Registered Linux user #585947
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5  4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

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#51330

On 15/10/2018 15.15, Dan Purgert wrote:
> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> [...]
>> Which is a pity, because he posted the correct answer to your question
>> in another post.
> 
> To be fair, "just use Linux" is a fine solution, given
> 
>  - Linux does what is wanted out of the box (or with an added package or
>    two)
>  - Windows support, even with additional packages, is spotty at best
>  - This is a linux newsgroup. (or at least "alt.os.linux" implies it's
>    for linux; maybe I'm wrong?)

Yes :-)

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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