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> I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either When I buy a phone, it's my phone. Not Google's, not Apple's, not anyone else's: it'

by zeveb 7y ago

> I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either When I buy a phone, it's my phone. Not Google's, not Apple's, not anyone else's: it's mine. And I have a fundamental human right to run any software on my property that I wish. It's one thing for Google to impose limitations on what apps available from the Play Store may do: I may always sideload anything I wish. But to impose limitations on what sideloaded apps may do is unconscionable. Freedom matters.

jeroenhd 7y ago
That's fine. It's your phone, so you decide if you want Google's software or not. You can pick if you want to enable selinux, inject WireGuard kernel modules or render all fonts upside down for what I care. If you want to do that, you're going to have to run your own software though. If what you want isn't in line with what Google wants, you're going to have to make your own Android configuration or modify an existing one. There is no law saying you can't disable security features, but there's no law to prevent Google from implementing features you don't like either. By the way, sideloaded apps have always been limited, as some permissions are only available to APKs signed with the same key as the OS. If you want to run apps that can do everything they want, you're going to have to put in work to disable some of the security layers that have been stacked on top of Android over the years.
bitwize 7y ago
To paraphrase another hackernews: Freedom is nice, but it comes with tradeoffs that for whatever reason buyers aren't willing to make right now. A restricted platform provides security guarantees that total freedom cannot provide, No matter what kind of magic incantation the OS vendor hides the "I know what I'm doing, let me run what I want on my own device" mode behind, some normie end-user schlub is going to find it on the internet as part of a malware author's instructions to download pirated video or games and get infected. Multiply that by a few thousand or million and that's a big black eye for Android the platform. That's a chunk of total Android devices infected with malware that iOS just doesn't have. Why? Because Apple did the smart thing and locked everything down from the beginning. So yes, for Android the openness genie is going back into the bottle. Get used to it. In the current environment of billions of always-on, always-networked devices, we can't afford to let them all run arbitrary code. You are free to purchase a phone whose vendor respects your freedom, but those are niche items and likely to get rarer.

by zeveb 7y ago

jeroenhd 7y ago

That's fine. It's your phone, so you decide if you want Google's software or not. You can pick if you want to enable selinux, inject WireGuard kernel modules or render all fonts upside down for what I care. If you want to do that, you're going to have to run your own software though. If what you want isn't in line with what Google wants, you're going to have to make your own Android configuration or modify an existing one. There is no law saying you can't disable security features, but there's no law to prevent Google from implementing features you don't like either. By the way, sideloaded apps have always been limited, as some permissions are only available to APKs signed with the same key as the OS. If you want to run apps that can do everything they want, you're going to have to put in work to disable some of the security layers that have been stacked on top of Android over the years.

bitwize 7y ago

To paraphrase another hackernews: Freedom is nice, but it comes with tradeoffs that for whatever reason buyers aren't willing to make right now. A restricted platform provides security guarantees that total freedom cannot provide, No matter what kind of magic incantation the OS vendor hides the "I know what I'm doing, let me run what I want on my own device" mode behind, some normie end-user schlub is going to find it on the internet as part of a malware author's instructions to download pirated video or games and get infected. Multiply that by a few thousand or million and that's a big black eye for Android the platform. That's a chunk of total Android devices infected with malware that iOS just doesn't have. Why? Because Apple did the smart thing and locked everything down from the beginning. So yes, for Android the openness genie is going back into the bottle. Get used to it. In the current environment of billions of always-on, always-networked devices, we can't afford to let them all run arbitrary code. You are free to purchase a phone whose vendor respects your freedom, but those are niche items and likely to get rarer.