Nothing you quoted changes anything. Yes, they added more abstraction on top of HALs. No, that doesn't mean HALs are now any "closer to the metal" than before.

Nothing you quoted changes anything. Yes, they added more abstraction on top of HALs. No, that doesn't mean HALs are now any "closer to the metal" than before. Here are some obvious hints to why this is not true: * there are no HALs defined for even 1/3rd of what kernel drivers you would need to run a modern device * a bunch of the HALs require you to provide handles obtained from standardized kernel interfaces (e.g. the aforementioned sync objects) Finally, of course: all HALs run in userland! All their power is in being granted SELinux access to various kernel interfaces! Vendors can not change these rules or risk failing certification.