6 ms·

> it's only just now that they bothered to actually release the source of their open-source operating system. Do you really need to have snark for an open sou

• pseudosavant 11mo ago
  I thought we were talking about the Android project? /sarcasm
• wongogue 11mo ago
  A project which uses and depends on a lot of other third-party OSS? Maybe.
• josephcsible 11mo ago
  Open-source projects maintained by individual developers working for free absolutely deserve more respect than that, but ones maintained by the most profitable company in the world [1] do not, especially when they go out of their way to change from doing the right thing to doing the wrong thing [2]. [1]: https://www.financecharts.com/screener/most-profitable https://www.financecharts.com/screener/most-profitable [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43484927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43484927
  • goku12 11mo ago
    > ..., especially when they go out of their way to change from doing the right thing to doing the wrong thing. And let's not forget this part. Android is a member of the mobile platform duopoly. Another similar project - Chrome - is almost a monopoly among web platforms. Both these projects exploit the open source label and most people's false belief that open source somehow equates to respect and protection of user rights. (Philosophically, it's only free software that cares about user rights. Both projects are textbook examples of non-free open source software.) This actually protects these projects to some extend from criticisms and penalties against the dark patterns that they employ to corrupt and exploit both the mobile and the web ecosystems. They absolutely don't deserve the same considerations as the passionate and underpaid small teams or individual maintainers.
• ehnto 11mo ago
  It's Google, I think they've sucked up enough of our digital lives and economy to handle a bit of snark.
  • izacus 11mo ago
    So why do you so badly want to use their operating system to care what they do and how they license it? It's their work, their OS and we have others.
    • dvdkon 11mo ago
      Applying your argument more broadly, we shouldn't critique any product or changes made to it, and I don't see any reason why that should be true. Caring about the products you use is pretty standard behaviour, and when the product changes under the user's hands, it's normal to complain. It can resolve the issue faster and less painfully than switching products would.
      • izacus 11mo ago
        No, my argument is not what you applied here. The fact of the matter is that Android is fully funded and developed by Google and you kinda don't have much standing to control what they do with their project and how - especially if all you can say is that their work is bad. You can be unhappy about it, but it doesn't change that its their work and their money on the line here with very little relationship to you or your wishes. You're not even a paying customer. This doesn't apply to "any product or changes" at large.
        • guizadillas 11mo ago
          wym we are not paying customers? every person with an android phone is a paying customer indirectly and can complain about its development
          • izacus 11mo ago
            You're a paying customer of Samsung et. al. You don't become a paying customer of Linus when you get a Thinkpad with Ubuntu.
• MarsIronPI 11mo ago
  Yes. Precisely because it's "open source", not "free".
• estimator7292 11mo ago
  Yes, open source requires snark just as much as tone policing