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That was a choice made by Microsoft to enable those services at the app level - that does not take away from the argument that the operating system is open. It
by bigtones 10y ago
That was a choice made by Microsoft to enable those services at the app level - that does not take away from the argument that the operating system is open.
It's like saying Linux is more proprietary because Oracle is closed and runs on Linux.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoNo, that's a strawman analogy. Almost every major app is built on Google's proprietary fork of Android. Android, as an open source project, has a nearly nonexistent distribution, globally, and has almost no apps that run on it. This is more like if 9 of every 10 apps required a Red Hat subscription, and you said "but technically it's built on an open operating system".
- bigtones 10y agoReally... The fact that many of those apps run on Amazon's FireOS version of Android completely disproves your point.
- taormina 10y agoMost of them do not. The use of any of Google Play Services features must be stripped out, in most cases hamstringing or losing functionality. Not to mention that they all then must be uploaded via Amazon's own store, kept up to date, and let's really hope that your interactions don't include upswiping.
- bitmapbrother 10y agoAnd most of them do because they've been modified to work without Google services. As for keeping those Amazon versions up to date - that's not Google's problem. It's the developer's / Amazon's problem.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoI recommend you check your facts before you open your mouth. Check the version of the Skype app in the Amazon Appstore. Then download that version, try to sign in, and discover it doesn't work anymore at all. :) Because I did all of those things, before I gave up and bought a Windows device. Which isn't open either, but at least is honest about it.
- bitmapbrother 10y agoSo you're blaming Google for a Microsoft issue in failing to update their Amazon app? Maybe you should check your facts next time.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoNo, the issue is that their current application is now dependent on Google's proprietary infrastructure, because Google has moved away from an open source application platform.
- jhasse 10y agoSkype is relying on proprietary infrastructure anyway?!?
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoI have to use Skype's infrastructure to use Skype. Obviously. That doesn't mean my data should also be transiting Google's infrastructure as well. Especially if I supposedly have an open source phone.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- seba_dos1 10y agoSo? The point is, there is no up to date version of Skype for Android. There is one for Android-based Google Play platform, but none for Android itself. Android lacks apps so badly it's almost unusable. People should stop calling Android open when in fact they mean Google Play platform and do not realize what's really left there when you leave it pure Android.
- phs318u 10y agoMicroG is to Google's AOSP (for mobile), what PureDarwin[1] is to Apple's Xnu[2] (for desktop).[3] [1] http://www.puredarwin.org/ http://www.puredarwin.org/ [2] https://github.com/opensource-apple/xnu https://github.com/opensource-apple/xnu [3] Almost, sort of.