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“Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

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Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#91

Post by tyingq »

ignoramous wrote: post #75

This isn't an official statement from Google. If you're interested in Android's OS update story (keywords: Project Treble, APEX [0], GenericSystemImages [1]), then the thread [2] has some interesting pointers. -- [0] https://www.xda-developers.com/android-q-apex-biggest-thing-... [1] https://developer.android.com/preview/gsi-release-notes [2] mirror: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1119206658423558144.html

"This isn't an official statement from Google"

Yep, he follows on with:

"About Fuchsia replacing Android, it's not a secret I leaked lol"

then...

"Also, do keep in mind how Google sometimes randomly kills projects, and starts new ones, nothing is set in stone with Google."

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#92

Post by usrusr »

m0zg wrote: post #16

This is lunacy. Nothing is going to replace Android but the next version of Android, for the same reason why Microsoft will forever continue developing Windows: there are (hunrders of?) billions of lines of code written for it, and: 1. Users just want to run their software, 2. Developers just want to sell their software, and nobody is going to give a shit about principled OS design or whatever. If Google doesn't unde…

What if "the next version of Android" will run all those old .APKs on something that isn't Linux? To someone working on the OS level of present day Android this will be "not Android anymore", to everybody else it will be just another iteration, perhaps worth a little brand refresh. There's no conflict beyond semantics.

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#93

Post by bennofs »

_bxg1 wrote: post #84
Yetanfou wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux was started by a student and brought into the limelight by volunteers. While the current development is largely paid for by corporations the essence of the thing is still the same, Linux-the-kernel is free software and can be forked by anyone who so pleases. If those corporations all were to loose interest, go bankrupt or suddenly decide they want to change Linux into a DRM-infested monster which only listens t…

This theoretical situation is precisely the one Android is in. The only difference is that Google is the only corporate stakeholder, so as they lose interest in various open-source Android components, those components simply die. Maybe the answer is to get more corporations invested in AOSP.

A big difference is that development of Android is done behind closed doors, whereas for Linux you can observe what is happening in public (discussions on the mailing lists for example). This means that it's essentially impossible to follow or contribute to Android development in a meaningful way. This is also reflected in the fact that there are open issues in Android with almost no reaction from any developer for years.

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#94

Post by anoncareer0212 »

emn13 wrote: post #70
anoncareer0212 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, it was bizarre to say the least. The entire thread is full of well-sourced, accurate info, and then this tweet was thrown in, then immediately after it was accurately disclaimed. Anyone who works at a BigCo knows there's no way in hell anyone's made a decision about something 5 years out. There's a lot of risky dev between here and there I think they meant to suggest Fuchsia could replace the Linux kern…

I mean, I know you're suggesting the claim has no merit because the poster doesn't know what they're talking about; but you know, even if the poster were a genius with intimate knowledge of the project, a claim like this is bogus. If somebody with a modicum of common sense and software experience says some software of this kind of complexity that they're working on "can" be good enough in 5 years that basically means…

You seem to be vigorously agreeing with me beyond the first paragraph, but I must be reading you wrong?

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#95

Post by _bxg1 »

bennofs wrote: post #93
_bxg1 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This theoretical situation is precisely the one Android is in. The only difference is that Google is the only corporate stakeholder, so as they lose interest in various open-source Android components, those components simply die. Maybe the answer is to get more corporations invested in AOSP.

A big difference is that development of Android is done behind closed doors, whereas for Linux you can observe what is happening in public (discussions on the mailing lists for example). This means that it's essentially impossible to follow or contribute to Android development in a meaningful way. This is also reflected in the fact that there are open issues in Android with almost no reaction from any developer for y…

"it would be a simple thing to fork the thing and ditch the corporate version"

^ This is what I was speaking to. This holds for Android.

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#96

Post by 0815test »

_bxg1 wrote: post #81
0815test wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, perhaps even more importantly, you'd be starting from scratch in terms of app ecosystem The "app ecosystem" on a free mobile OS would be shared with the "ecosystem" of free PC apps. Chromium does target, e.g. Debian GNU/Linux, as do quite a few proprietary apps relying on Flatpack. There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to piggiback on this work for the mobile platform. Yes, UI is different, but not that…

Assuming the free mobile OS was Linux-based. And if it's going to be, I don't see why one wouldn't just start with an Android OSP fork. Even if Google stopped maintaining the latter, it's a huge head start compared to the alternative. That said, because of the way Google APIs have extended their tentacles into non-Google Android apps, many of them cease to function without Google Services installed. So you'd still ha…

AOSP is way too fragmented. An "app" dating back to, e.g. Android 2.3 (not that long ago), or even as late as Android 4.0 will not even build in a form suitable for a present-day version of AOSP - you have to go and rewrite the code yourself, there is no backward compatibility that reaches that far. Linux platforms are truly mature and can easily run code dating back to the 1980s. Add to that the pointless overhead caused by Dalvik/ART (especially wrt. RAM use - quite critical on a system with no swap space whatsoever!), and the gratuitous differences with widespread Linux kernel and userspace standards. Starting from scratch on a better base is short-term pain for long-term gain.

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#97

Post by m0zg »

usrusr wrote: post #92
m0zg wrote: post #16

This is lunacy. Nothing is going to replace Android but the next version of Android, for the same reason why Microsoft will forever continue developing Windows: there are (hunrders of?) billions of lines of code written for it, and: 1. Users just want to run their software, 2. Developers just want to sell their software, and nobody is going to give a shit about principled OS design or whatever. If Google doesn't unde…

What if "the next version of Android" will run all those old .APKs on something that isn't Linux? To someone working on the OS level of present day Android this will be "not Android anymore", to everybody else it will be just another iteration, perhaps worth a little brand refresh. There's no conflict beyond semantics.

Don't see how that will work, given that a lot of the more desirable apps use native API and their developers have no desire whatsoever to put in more work to adopt yet another Google OS, in addition to Anrdoid. See e.g. what happened to Windows Mobile. Excellent OS (better than Anrdoid in terms of UX IMO), but failed to get traction with devs.

It's not like all Android phones will just cease to exist when Fuchsia comes out. So even if this is done near flawlessly (chances of which are slim given how different Fuchsia promises to be), Google would be expanding the already insane Android testing matrix for devs.

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#99

Post by kamfc »

rocky1138 wrote: post #11

As a tech community, we should really rally around a libre/free mobile OS and soon. Being beholden to corporations for our operating systems is antithetical to freedom.

Firefox OS tried.

https://medium.com/@bfrancis/the-story-of-firefox-os-cb5bf79... https://www.cnet.com/news/why-the-death-of-the-firefox-phone...

What do you guys think about Purism's smartphone built with PureOS https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ ?

Re: “Android is reaching EOL in the next 4-5 years”

#100

Post by [deleted] »

siffland wrote: post #28
stupidthrottle wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is eradicating all GPL from their mobile offering. Fuschia will let them release a fully closed down platform.

I thought Fuschia was BSD licensed? Isn't the source avalible online? Sure they can add binary blobs, but they do that already with android. Not that i trust google, because i don't ;)

[deleted]
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