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Everyone says how great Google is for Linux, but nobody talks about how good Linux is for Google. Not that I think Google is exploiting the free software movem
by sroerick 13y ago
Everyone says how great Google is for Linux, but nobody talks about how good Linux is for Google.
Not that I think Google is exploiting the free software movement or anything, but Google would have never had a chance with Android without the Linux kernel. The Google play stack is the opposite of a free software victory.
I'm tired of hearing all the things Google has done for Linux. Maybe we could talk a little more about how free software has facilitated the growth of one of the top tech companies on the planet.
- lutusp 13y ago> I'm tired of hearing all the things Google has done for Linux. Maybe we could talk a little more about how free software has facilitated the growth of one of the top tech companies on the planet. I think the case can be made that both are true -- Linux desperately needed a way to win public acceptance, Google needed an unencumbered foundation for various projects. Also, we mustn't forget the snowball effect -- when an operating system gets to a certain point in installed base, it becomes the operating system. All signs are that Linux will get to that point, and Google will have been one of the primary reasons.
- Zigurd 13y agoQuite so: It took a company with the resources to give Linux a modern touch-based managed language userland to make it popular. If you want to know where the next Ubuntu is coming from, look to fully open Android distributions like CyanogenMod. With their deal with Oppo, you can make a good case that Cyanogen has done better than Ubuntu in making OEM deals.
- dTal 13y agoWhile this is generally true for many of Google's activities, had Linux not been available they could probably have used a BSD-licensed kernel for a mobile OS, as Apple have done.