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How does a not-open-source product control open-source? Anyone can try to build an open source alternative to GPS on whatever hardware they can obtain, using A
by gowld 7y ago
How does a not-open-source product control open-source?
Anyone can try to build an open source alternative to GPS on whatever hardware they can obtain, using Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Without Google open source, they've have to replicate it's functionality from scratch.
If AOSP never existed, Android would still be Android (GPL allows proprietary Android) and would still be as popular as it is.
iOS was never open source, and did fine.
- dleslie 7y agoYes, anyone can make an open source alternative; the point is that the popular system will remain closed and controlled. Free alternatives don't become a threat when you control their implementation target.
- WorldMaker 7y agoWhen was the last time a Google-free AOSP fork had a successful handset on the market? We've seen almost nothing but failures: Amazon Phone, Cyanogen, … The market seems to have spoken that Android isn't Android without "Google Play Services" secret sauce, and that's entirely proprietary walled garden.