4 ms·

All of the "no big deal" comments are really startling to me. If you bought a desktop PC where you couldn't write anything to the hard drive outside of your one

by gergles 12y ago

All of the "no big deal" comments are really startling to me. If you bought a desktop PC where you couldn't write anything to the hard drive outside of your one allowed directory without voiding the warranty, you'd take some serious issue with that. Is "but mobile!!!" an OK justification for taking away control over hardware that people own?

guelo 12y ago
Everyone wants to build an ipad these days. General computing will be harder and harder on commodity hardware.
JelteF 12y ago
No, security is. On any normal Linux pc only the root user has rw rights on the system partition.
- whoopdedo 12y ago
  And the root user is the owner of the computer. This is saying that if you buy an Android device you are not granted the privilege of owning the device. The mindset of mobile developers is to treat the end user as an adversary. You're not meant to control your device beyond what the gatekeepers of the walled garden want you to do. They want to operate by the television model where there are a privileged few producers delivering content to the masses. It's the antithesis to the internet model of an information economy where anyone can communicate with anyone else and not need a middle-man regulating their conversation.
  - JelteF 12y ago
    Most manufactorers supply tools to root your device. It's about the same as ubuntu having a root user without a password you still have to set. Only if you buy your device from a carrier that locks it, you will have trouble with getting root access. But you should be angry at them, not at Google. Google is making Android safer to use for the general public. This ease of use and hanhdolding is one of the reasons Android is actually popular with non tech-savy people instead of any Linux desktop distro.
krbbltr 12y ago
Mobile phones have always been more locked down than PCs, even before smartphones existed. As have other appliances such as microwave ovens, digital cameras, etc. You can argue that smartphones shouldn't be treated as simple appliances any more, argue about the pros and cons of each approach... but the fact remains that this particular change in Android is fairly minute and doesn't affect the vast majority of users in any negative way, even the type of user that likes to tinker. In fact, it increases security.

by gergles 12y ago

guelo 12y ago

Everyone wants to build an ipad these days. General computing will be harder and harder on commodity hardware.

JelteF 12y ago

No, security is. On any normal Linux pc only the root user has rw rights on the system partition.

whoopdedo 12y ago
And the root user is the owner of the computer. This is saying that if you buy an Android device you are not granted the privilege of owning the device. The mindset of mobile developers is to treat the end user as an adversary. You're not meant to control your device beyond what the gatekeepers of the walled garden want you to do. They want to operate by the television model where there are a privileged few producers delivering content to the masses. It's the antithesis to the internet model of an information economy where anyone can communicate with anyone else and not need a middle-man regulating their conversation.
- JelteF 12y ago
  Most manufactorers supply tools to root your device. It's about the same as ubuntu having a root user without a password you still have to set. Only if you buy your device from a carrier that locks it, you will have trouble with getting root access. But you should be angry at them, not at Google. Google is making Android safer to use for the general public. This ease of use and hanhdolding is one of the reasons Android is actually popular with non tech-savy people instead of any Linux desktop distro.

krbbltr 12y ago

Mobile phones have always been more locked down than PCs, even before smartphones existed. As have other appliances such as microwave ovens, digital cameras, etc. You can argue that smartphones shouldn't be treated as simple appliances any more, argue about the pros and cons of each approach... but the fact remains that this particular change in Android is fairly minute and doesn't affect the vast majority of users in any negative way, even the type of user that likes to tinker. In fact, it increases security.