3 ms·

Two different mobile oss tried exactly this and they both failed. Three if you count webOS from palm.

• wkat4242 3y ago
  Even Apple tried it and they failed and scrambled to launch their own app store after everyone started jailbreaking and using Cydia apps that were so much better than the web apps Apple wanted iPhone users to use :) And in the end Cydia made Apple develop its biggest money maker ever!
• rchaud 3y ago
  "Failure" here means they didn't manage to join the oligopoly themselves, and went bust instead, as network effects are a zero-sum game. By that metric, every flavour of Linux has also failed. Yet Linux is also heavily used and actively developed, serving an important purpose where Windows/Mac were not suitable. It helps that computer/server hardware and components are modular and not as tied to a particular OS as phones are.
  • Zetobal 3y ago
    No failed means that the corporations behind them have gone bust or abandoned these osses.