Choice of search engine on Android nuked by “Anonymous Coward” (2009) • Hacker News Board

Re: Choice of search engine on Android nuked by “Anonymous Coward” (2009)

#81

Post by GeekyBear » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 8:52 PM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #20

So, their browser on their operating system has features which only work with their search engine. How does this not violate antitrust laws? Product tying, at the least?

The EU Competition Commission is said to be on the verge of issuing a multi-billion dollar penalty for this behavior.

>Google could face a record penalty this month from European regulators for forcing its search and Web-browsing tools on the makers of Android-equipped smartphones and other devices, potentially resulting in major changes to the world’s most widely deployed mobile operating system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/07/09/google-...

Re: Choice of search engine on Android nuked by “Anonymous Coward” (2009)

#82

Post by tcgarvin » Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 2:45 AM UTC

For those who aren't familiar, Gerrit (the code review system used by Android at this point, think GitHub Pull Requests but better/worse) uses "Anonymous Coward" naming for those users it doesn't otherwise have a good name for.

Others point out this usage probably finds its origin in Slashdot culture, which is likely true, but also probably a ternary relationship in this instance.

Re: Choice of search engine on Android nuked by “Anonymous Coward” (2009)

#83

Post by cerberusss » Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 5:08 AM UTC

emilsedgh wrote: post #18

foo101 wrote: post #3

Can someone who has more context around this commit explain what is going on here? What does this commit do? Why did this commit get accepted in the commit history tree published at android.googlesource.com?

I think a Google employee was tasked to remove the search engine choice and hardcode google search into Android. He didn't want his name to be attached as the person who did this (and we can assume it was some sort of protest to the change) so he committed this as "Anonymous Coward". Also "Anonymous Coward", as others pointed out, was the way Slashdot referenced guest comments.

> was the way Slashdot referenced guest comments

It still is.

Re: Choice of search engine on Android nuked by “Anonymous Coward” (2009)

#84

Post by nuand999 » Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 7:52 AM UTC

Jaruzel wrote: post #39

DennisAleynikov wrote: post #4

What an interesting way to go about making an uncomfortable but important decision. This is Google's platform and they should do with it what they want, it's incredible how much search has changed our interaction with our phone. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not finding everything I need with a quick google search. If google doesn't control the searches end to end on android they would have missed out on s…

There's a new initiative called 'eelo'[1] which claims that it will be a drop-in ROM replacement for existing Android phones. Apparently it's built using a modified AOSP[2] using their own open-source software components. They are focusing on privacy and security. I'm not convinced they'll ever release anything substantial, but it's good to see another player in the Mobile OS space trying to challenge the status quo.…

The development seems to be in progress: https://www.indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-apple-google-a-gen...