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In "Androids: The Team That Built the Android Operating System" by Chet Haase (a book you shouldn't waste time on), it is very clear that making Android open so
by fg137 2mo ago
In "Androids: The Team That Built the Android Operating System" by Chet Haase (a book you shouldn't waste time on), it is very clear that making Android open source (i.e. AOSP) was almost by accident. Google was pretty confident that Android could be just as successful if it were a more closed ecosystem.
And it seems to be that Google is increasingly regretting that decision and closing things down bit by bit, from Play store policy, all the Play services BS, to how they ship security patches, and now all the developer verification. Google discovers that it's easier to make money if they just control everything.
- pjmlp 2mo agoFolks around here that repeatedly mix Android with Linux, should also be happy that for whatever internal political reasons, they ended up not rebooting it with Fuchsia, or simply replacing the Linux kernel with Zircon. As everything else, especially anything with a GPL license, has been removed already, with exception of the Linux kernel.
- frollogaston 2mo agoPeople mix Android with Linux cause it is. Linux is only a kernel.
- pjmlp 2mo agoSo it is an OS or a kernel?
- frollogaston 2mo agoIt's a kernel per se, and any OS built on it is considered a Linux OS. "The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system." - kernel readme Linux.com refers to the kernel itself as an OS though, I think to relate to people who have only heard of OSes like Windows. And calls Android a platform based on the Linux OS :S
- pjmlp 2mo agoPity that Android doesn't run any Linux userspace application, unless one makes use of workarounds, like termux having to fit within the constrains of Android sandbox and NDK limitations.
- frollogaston 2mo agoThat's the thing, there's no designated Linux userspace. There's GNU and other stuff that is on top.
- pjmlp 2mo agoWhich is why patting on the back about Android using the Linux kernel is a phyrric victory.
- frollogaston 2mo agoWell they've contributed upstream to Linux kinda as a result, so that's nice, but Android being Linux is no reason for me to want to use it. Like, so is the Amazon Firestick.