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> Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction. A move towards replacing
by kuschku 9y ago
> Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction.
A move towards replacing an open OS with an entirely proprietary solution full of tracking by a single vendor is "a step in the right direction"?
There's thousands of solutions for how you can update core OS components, none of them require what Google's doing to open source.
- madeofpalk 9y agoLook, the reality of the market is that most people are a lot more concerned about getting timely (security) updates than an 'open source' mobile OS.
- thecrazyone 9y agoGood point. However, that's a short term benefit at the cost of long term is what we should all remember
- fauigerzigerk 9y ago>There's thousands of solutions Yes, but only if you declare the business models of everyone involved a non-goal.
- kuschku 9y agoYou can still have a Google-branded version of the same product that provides additional, Google-only features. An open core business model was always what Android was like, but now the opem core is shrinking with every further commit.
- fauigerzigerk 9y agoAll true, but what does that tell us about any solutions to slow or non-existant updates and fragmentation? What are some of the thousands of solutions? Or are you saying that there never was a problem in the first place?
- kuschku 9y agoThe issue: apps that are only updated with the OS end up outdated. The current solution: Move them out of AOSP, into Google's internal projects, distribute updates via the Play Store. An alternative solution: Move them out of AOSP, onto GitHub, distribute updates via the Play Store. Yes, Google had to decouple them from AOSP. But that’s no reason not to put the code anywhere else in the open. These issues are entirely orthogonal, and Google uses it as a way to force more people onto the proprietary ones.
- fauigerzigerk 9y agoOpen sourcing Google's apps is not a solution to Android's core problems though. Not every part of the OS that needs to be updated can be moved into open sourced apps. Also, open sourcing the apps takes away any leverage Google has to recoup the costs of developing Android.
- kuschku 9y agoAll the apps were open source in the first place. Google Music, Books, Search, the Phone Dialer, the contacts, the SMS app, Google Talk, all of them used to be open source. This all worked in the past.
- fauigerzigerk 9y agoNo it hasn't worked in the past if we're talking about the problem of fragmentation and timely updates.
- thecrazyone 9y agoWow! This implication to open source software is largely overlooked in the discussions here. Good catch.
- digi_owl 9y agoIt should have been possible for Google to open up much of what they are pushing, but they don't. And i wonder if that has to do with the likes of Amazon and Xiaomi.