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>So why not an iPhone? "Jailbreaking" on Android is as easy as flipping a toggle in the security settings. It allows for easy sideloading in general, and the u

>So why not an iPhone? "Jailbreaking" on Android is as easy as flipping a toggle in the security settings. It allows for easy sideloading in general, and the use of alternative app sources in particular. IOS's developer sideloading capabilities have so many restrictions and limitations that it barely counts as sideloading. Apple HATES the GPLv3, and specifically designed their app store agreement to forbid GPLv3 software. Good luck finding anything GPLv3 that's not dual-licensed on their app store. This effectively bans any GPLv3 software that's not exclusively developed by a single company (or is a community project that mandates copyright reassignment) from the app store. (Fun fact: Apple's hatred of the GPLv3 is the same reason that they ship MacOS with a 12-year-old version of Bash, v3.2, the last version under GPLv2.) I won't support a company so hostile to the very concept of free software. Google is the embodiment of the phrase "privacy nightmare", but even they obey the spirit of the GPL and other free software/open source licenses in their projects. No iPhone has ever had a microSD slot. I'm not going to spend a multi-hundred-dollar premium for the equivalent storage space of a $20 microSD card. I prefer Linux at home. Historically iPhones have required iTunes for basic functionality such as copying music to the phone, and therefore required Windows or MacOS. It's not as painful nowadays to use an iPhone without iTunes day-to-day, but it's still nowhere near as simple as Android, and certain operations still require iTunes. Mobile Firefox on Android supports regular desktop Firefox extensions. I wouldn't be able to install Ublock Origin, Decentraleyes, UMatrix, or any other extension on Firefox on IOS, because Apple mandates that all third-party browsers on IOS can only be wrappers around mobile Safari. I can easily install standard extensions on Firefox for Android, because it's really Firefox under the hood. I greatly hope for the success of the Librem 5. I would drop Android in a heartbeat for a genuinely Google-free phone with all the traditional openness (sideloading, adding cheap storage, easy wired file transfers without Windows/OSX, etc) of Android. GApps-less LineageOS is better than standard Google-laden Android but it's still not ideal. All I'm waiting for before ordering a Librem 5 is final confirmation that the supported frequencies match my carrier.

jw14 7y ago
Interesting. From my perspective it's the GPLv3 that's the issue. When I'm looking to build something and I see a GPLv3 widget I think "Oh man, so my options with this will be very limited. I won't be able to do normal things with it." I find Apple's stance slightly odd since I don't think the GPLv3 apps would infect Apple, but then I also haven't taken the trouble to thoroughly understand GPLv3. I started to research it some years ago and my quick conclusion was "avoid". I don't really have too much complaint about GPLv2. It does impose some limits but I feel like I understand them and can work with them. Definitely with you on the $20 microSD card. The markup for storage is absurd. Update: want to add this question. Anyone know why Apple would bar a GPLv3 app from the app store (bash is unfortunate but I think I understand that one)?
- kermitismyhero 7y ago
  >Update: want to add this question. Anyone know why Apple would bar a GPLv3 app from the app store (bash is unfortunate but I think I understand that one)? I think it's simply a company-wide policy made at the recommendation of overly-cautious legal counsel. On the matter of GPLv3, I think this is going to be an "agree to disagree" type of thing. I actually quite like the changes over v2. But then I'm not a professional developer. I'm just a bookkeeper who dabbles in coding for fun and for a bit of ad-hoc automation on the job. My perspective is certainly quite different from someone who makes a living programming.
  - jw14 7y ago
    Glad this didn't turn into a flame war. I like the idea of sharing everything in theory but I don't yet see how to make a living without putting a price tag on something. Working as a contractor writing closed source software and allowing my clients to mostly own what I create allows me to work around 30 hours a week and spend time doing volunteer work. If there was a path to do that with Free Software I might go for it.
- m463 7y ago
  I've wondered about it, and I suspect it's either the tivo part (you can't restrict the code from running), or the patent clause. It's ironic because apple is actually violating gplv2 with bash (it should distribute rootless.h)

jw14 7y ago

Interesting. From my perspective it's the GPLv3 that's the issue. When I'm looking to build something and I see a GPLv3 widget I think "Oh man, so my options with this will be very limited. I won't be able to do normal things with it." I find Apple's stance slightly odd since I don't think the GPLv3 apps would infect Apple, but then I also haven't taken the trouble to thoroughly understand GPLv3. I started to research it some years ago and my quick conclusion was "avoid". I don't really have too much complaint about GPLv2. It does impose some limits but I feel like I understand them and can work with them. Definitely with you on the $20 microSD card. The markup for storage is absurd. Update: want to add this question. Anyone know why Apple would bar a GPLv3 app from the app store (bash is unfortunate but I think I understand that one)?

kermitismyhero 7y ago
>Update: want to add this question. Anyone know why Apple would bar a GPLv3 app from the app store (bash is unfortunate but I think I understand that one)? I think it's simply a company-wide policy made at the recommendation of overly-cautious legal counsel. On the matter of GPLv3, I think this is going to be an "agree to disagree" type of thing. I actually quite like the changes over v2. But then I'm not a professional developer. I'm just a bookkeeper who dabbles in coding for fun and for a bit of ad-hoc automation on the job. My perspective is certainly quite different from someone who makes a living programming.
- jw14 7y ago
  Glad this didn't turn into a flame war. I like the idea of sharing everything in theory but I don't yet see how to make a living without putting a price tag on something. Working as a contractor writing closed source software and allowing my clients to mostly own what I create allows me to work around 30 hours a week and spend time doing volunteer work. If there was a path to do that with Free Software I might go for it.
m463 7y ago
I've wondered about it, and I suspect it's either the tivo part (you can't restrict the code from running), or the patent clause. It's ironic because apple is actually violating gplv2 with bash (it should distribute rootless.h)