4 ms·

Not so fast...without manufacturer support you can't do that. Also many parts of android are actually close-source. The only mobile open source OS that you can

Not so fast...without manufacturer support you can't do that. Also many parts of android are actually close-source. The only mobile open source OS that you can actually use, build, modify is Ubuntu

jhasse 10y ago
Can you tell me which part of Android (AOSP, not Google Play Services of course) is close-sourced?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- forgottenpass 10y ago
  The parts that people, manufacturers, carriers and Google themselves refer to by using the word "Andriod" in any context other than splitting hairs about AOSP.
  - jhasse 10y ago
    I think on HN most people would say that Cyanogenmod is an Android ROM and that Amazon is using Android on their Fire tablets. Also there are many (mostly Chinese) manufactures which claim Android support without officially supporting running the Google proprietary Play services.
icebraining 10y ago
Android itself is fully open source. It requires closed-source blobs (mostly drivers) to work on most devices, and so does Ubuntu Touch; in fact, they get them from Android.: https://wiki.edubuntu.org/Touch/NewPorting#Retrieving_the_proprietary_blobs_from_Android https://wiki.edubuntu.org/Touch/NewPorting#Retrieving_the_pr... You also can install Google's proprietary layer of services and libraries, but that's optional if you're building it yourself.
- themihai 10y ago
  I think that's required on devices that do not support ubuntu natively(i.e android phones) so I find it acceptable. It's also worth to note that most linux drivers are blobs as well...(unfortunately). Here[0] is the source for the kernel of bq aquaris(a native ubuntu phone) and the images maintained[1]. I've tried to reflash an android phone and get root access for 2 weeks without success. On ubuntu mobile it took me 2 hours. 0 https://github.com/bq/aquaris-E4.5 https://github.com/bq/aquaris-E4.5 1 https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/phone/devices/image-channels/ https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/phone/devices/image-channels...

Not so fast...without manufacturer support you can't do that. Also many parts of android are actually close-source. The only mobile open source OS that you can actually use, build, modify is Ubuntu

jhasse 10y ago

Can you tell me which part of Android (AOSP, not Google Play Services of course) is close-sourced?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
forgottenpass 10y ago
The parts that people, manufacturers, carriers and Google themselves refer to by using the word "Andriod" in any context other than splitting hairs about AOSP.
- jhasse 10y ago
  I think on HN most people would say that Cyanogenmod is an Android ROM and that Amazon is using Android on their Fire tablets. Also there are many (mostly Chinese) manufactures which claim Android support without officially supporting running the Google proprietary Play services.

icebraining 10y ago

Android itself is fully open source. It requires closed-source blobs (mostly drivers) to work on most devices, and so does Ubuntu Touch; in fact, they get them from Android.: https://wiki.edubuntu.org/Touch/NewPorting#Retrieving_the_proprietary_blobs_from_Android https://wiki.edubuntu.org/Touch/NewPorting#Retrieving_the_pr... You also can install Google's proprietary layer of services and libraries, but that's optional if you're building it yourself.

themihai 10y ago
I think that's required on devices that do not support ubuntu natively(i.e android phones) so I find it acceptable. It's also worth to note that most linux drivers are blobs as well...(unfortunately). Here[0] is the source for the kernel of bq aquaris(a native ubuntu phone) and the images maintained[1]. I've tried to reflash an android phone and get root access for 2 weeks without success. On ubuntu mobile it took me 2 hours. 0 https://github.com/bq/aquaris-E4.5 https://github.com/bq/aquaris-E4.5 1 https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/phone/devices/image-channels/ https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/phone/devices/image-channels...