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DivConquer
@pnap.net

DivConquer to Bink

Anon

to Bink

Re: Android Runs 75% Of All Smartphones Sold In Last 3 Months

I was quite excited when Google did their "Look, we're Open Source" mantra but was solely disappointed to see a GNU/Linux kernel and userland propped up with slovenly Java. While the marketing departments give their jeers and buy eachother drinks much in the same fashion the defense attorney high fives the prosecution attorney after the trial, the divide and conquer mentality is very much self-servicing.

iOS or Android; neither is Open Source but is instead standing on the shoulders of giants whilst leeching from their efforts. Arbitrary carrier restrictions, aggressive sun-setting of hardware, and a fragmented community is exactly what generates revenue. Best way to sell a product? Create a "me versus them" approach. Throw bacon grease on a kerosene fire while they light cigars with $100 bills.

Now, hear me out, but I always heard Steve had a real nice walled garden out back from his home... Lets encourage security-responsible "rooting" and "jailbreaking" to enable iptables and pfctl.

Let he who is without SYN cast the first RST.

No_Strings

join:2001-11-22
The OC

No_Strings

Well said.
Bink
Villains... knock off all that evil
join:2006-05-14
Colorado

1 edit

Bink to DivConquer

Member

to DivConquer
said by DivConquer :

...but was solely disappointed to see a GNU/Linux kernel and userland propped up with slovenly Java.

Don’t like Java? There’s an NDK.
said by DivConquer :

Arbitrary carrier restrictions...

I have zero carrier restrictions as it relates to my Galaxy Nexus.
said by DivConquer :

...aggressive sun-setting of hardware...

Planned obsolescence/Moore’s Law—happens everywhere when it comes to technology.
said by DivConquer :

...and a fragmented community is exactly what generates revenue.

What?
said by DivConquer :

Best way to sell a product? Create a "me versus them" approach.

I use what I like—and, as a technologist, Android has fewer restrictions versus the others.
said by DivConquer :

Lets encourage security-responsible "rooting"...

My Galaxy Nexus can be rooted with a single documented command.
said by DivConquer :

...to enable iptables and pfctl.

I’d rather OpenBSD run on my “smartphone,” but I don’t see anyone working on a port.

FF4m3
@bhn.net

FF4m3 to DivConquer

Anon

to DivConquer
said by DivConquer :

iOS or Android; neither is Open Source but is instead standing on the shoulders of giants whilst leeching from their efforts.

said by Android Licensing :

The source code for Android is available under free and open source software licenses. Google publishes most of the code (including network and telephony stacks) under the Apache License version 2.0, and the rest, Linux kernel changes, under the GNU General Public License version 2. The Open Handset Alliance develops the changes to the Linux kernel, in public, with source code publicly available at all times. The rest of Android is developed in private by Google, with source code released publicly when a new version is released. Typically Google collaborates with a hardware manufacturer to produce a flagship device (part of the Google Nexus series) featuring the new version of Android, then makes the source code available after that device has been released.

In early 2011, Google chose to temporarily withhold the Android source code to the tablet-only 3.0 Honeycomb release. The reason, according to Andy Rubin in an official Android blog post, was because Honeycomb was rushed for production of the Motorola Xoom, and they did not want third parties creating a "really bad user experience" by attempting to put onto smartphones a version of Android intended for tablets. The source code was once again made available in November 2011 with the release of Android 4.0.

Even though the software is open-source, device manufacturers cannot use Google's Android trademark unless Google certifies that the device complies with their Compatibility Definition Document (CDD). Devices must also meet this definition to be eligible to license Google's closed-source applications, including Google Play. As Android is not completely released under a GPL compatible license, e.g. Google's code is under the Apache license, and also because Google Play allows proprietary software, Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation have been critical of Android and have recommended the usage of alternatives such as Replicant.

said by Android Development :

Android consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel 2.6 and Linux Kernel 3.x (Android 4.0 onwards), with middleware, libraries and APIs written in C and application software running on an application framework which includes Java-compatible libraries based on Apache Harmony. Android uses the Dalvik virtual machine with just-in-time compilation to run Dalvik dex-code (Dalvik Executable), which is usually translated from Java bytecode. The main hardware platform for Android is the ARM architecture. There is support for x86 from the Android x86 project, and Google TV uses a special x86 version of Android.

Android's linux kernel has further architecture changes by Google outside the typical Linux kernel development cycle. Android does not have a native X Window System by default nor does it support the full set of standard GNU libraries, and this makes it difficult to port existing Linux applications or libraries to Android. But the support of simple C and SDL applications is possible by injection of a small Java shim and usage of the JNI like e.g. in the Jagged Alliance 2 port for Android.

said by iOS Digital Rights Management :

The closed and proprietary nature of iOS has garnered criticism...

Linus Torvalds thinks Nokia should have gone Android:

Currently, Torvalds himself is sporting an Android phone and particularly appreciates the state-of-the-art email experience despite not liking mobile phones in general.

FF4m3

FF4m3 to DivConquer

Anon

to DivConquer
From ZDNet:

Torvalds did discuss other mobile OSes, however, saying he was grateful to Google's Android for doing for consumer mobile what Linux so far has not been able to achieve on the desktop.

"Before Android there had been people trying to do Linux on cell phones, more or less successfully — mostly less — but people used to feel that hey, user interfaces and actual consumer products was not something that Linux was necessarily famous for and Android changed that," he said.


Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium Member
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL

1 recommendation

Maxo to DivConquer

Premium Member

to DivConquer
said by DivConquer :

iOS or Android; neither is Open Source but is instead standing on the shoulders of giants whilst leeching from their efforts.

Either you troll or speak in ignorance. Android is 100% OpenSource. Anyone with the technical knowledge can legally download and build Android for any platform they want, and then distribute it. It is done every day. I literally have a new version of Android built for my phone every day from some guy who never asked anyone's permissions, and is not breaking any laws. It is the only reason I can get Android 4.1 for my now ancient Droid Incredible.