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In the case that Google has a disagreement with it's partners, how easy would it be for them to fork Android?
by budu3 15y ago
In the case that Google has a disagreement with it's partners, how easy would it be for them to fork Android?
- ConstantineXVI 15y agoTechnically? Not too difficult. Strategically? They'd lose the Market (need to attract devs), lose Google apps (Maps in particular), and run the chance of diverging from the Android API (making point #1 more difficult). Oh, and absolutely no chance of Google stepping up to defend them from patent suits (and for all we know, Google might target the rebels themselves).
- Tyrannosaurs 15y agoI think someone has already done this, and Amazon are rumoured to be doing it. It's possible but you'd need fairly significant resources to make it work as there are a lot of bits around Android that aren't open that you'd need to replicate or replace.
- pedalpete 15y agoLet's not forget that many of these same Android partners are also making Windows phones on essentially the same hardware. Would the partners absorb the cost of forking and managing an OS or just drop the OS for a competitor?