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> The real keys are that your Android device is locked down, fixing it voids your warranty As it should. There's nothing in open source that requires a warrant

> The real keys are that your Android device is locked down, fixing it voids your warranty As it should. There's nothing in open source that requires a warranty. Here's a snippet from the MIT license, generally considered open: "THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT." And from the GPL, also open: "THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW." When manufacturers go out of their way to lock down a device, I agree that's a jerk move. But I also don't think it's reasonable to expect them to agree to replace your device if it bricks after you've hacked the firmware. Obviously, the device may be bricked for reasons entirely unrelated to whatever you've hacked, but I don't begrudge manufacturers for drawing a line in the sand and not wanting to expend resources beyond it.

fleitz 13y ago
Perhaps you shouldn't have to modify a firmware to install your own OS on an 'open' platform. IBM somehow figured out how to do it on an IBM 5150 back in the early 80s and my Raspberry Pi supports it on ARM systems. I'm happy to use my iPhone which doesn't allow firmware mods under warranty, however, I've never heard Apple talk about the iPhone being an open platform. Google's stance on the openness of Android strikes me as disingenuous.
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  Apple talking point # 3124: we never claimed our platform was open so we can be more hardline than RMS when critiquing Android. Yeah, that one never gets boring.
  - fleitz 13y ago
    Apple requested Google call it GNU/Android? Must have missed that one.
    - simias 13y ago
      What are you talking about? The android userland is not provided by GNU (and is not even GPL to begin with).
  - saraid216 13y ago
    That's #3125. #3124 is "We are sexy and we know it."
- lokedhs 13y ago
  What part of Android requires keys to install? Oh, you mean the _hardware_ is locked down? Guess what, I can't install Ubuntu on an Iphone either. I guess that makes Ubuntu non-open then?
zobzu 13y ago
anyone can make a license that is both open source and providing warranty btw. open source licenses generally don't provide warranty because they don't have to and devs, providing free stuff, certainly do not want to bother with warranties. Companies could.
- DominikR 13y ago
  Sure, they could. But it would be insane. (at least at the current prices) Just compare how much an insurance costs that covers damages caused by yourself (being negligent) as opposed to those covering only damages caused by hardware/software defects.
ams6110 13y ago
You'll find very similar disclaimers in nearly all licensed, closed-source software as well.

fleitz 13y ago

Perhaps you shouldn't have to modify a firmware to install your own OS on an 'open' platform. IBM somehow figured out how to do it on an IBM 5150 back in the early 80s and my Raspberry Pi supports it on ARM systems. I'm happy to use my iPhone which doesn't allow firmware mods under warranty, however, I've never heard Apple talk about the iPhone being an open platform. Google's stance on the openness of Android strikes me as disingenuous.

ZeroGravitas 13y ago
Apple talking point # 3124: we never claimed our platform was open so we can be more hardline than RMS when critiquing Android. Yeah, that one never gets boring.
- fleitz 13y ago
  Apple requested Google call it GNU/Android? Must have missed that one.
  - simias 13y ago
    What are you talking about? The android userland is not provided by GNU (and is not even GPL to begin with).
- saraid216 13y ago
  That's #3125. #3124 is "We are sexy and we know it."
lokedhs 13y ago
What part of Android requires keys to install? Oh, you mean the _hardware_ is locked down? Guess what, I can't install Ubuntu on an Iphone either. I guess that makes Ubuntu non-open then?

zobzu 13y ago

anyone can make a license that is both open source and providing warranty btw. open source licenses generally don't provide warranty because they don't have to and devs, providing free stuff, certainly do not want to bother with warranties. Companies could.

DominikR 13y ago
Sure, they could. But it would be insane. (at least at the current prices) Just compare how much an insurance costs that covers damages caused by yourself (being negligent) as opposed to those covering only damages caused by hardware/software defects.

ams6110 13y ago

You'll find very similar disclaimers in nearly all licensed, closed-source software as well.