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In the past, I've spent a fair bit of time criticizing Google for calling Android "open source", but not releasing the source. Now that it appears that they are actually doing it, let me be the first to say that this is great. Well done, Google.
Unless I can't make a 3G equivalent to wireshark I'll have a hard time calling the platform open.
Not _quite_ full source code --- some proprietary graphics drivers are supplied in binary-only form. It won't matter much for most uses of the source code, but purists will be displeased. http://source.android.com/source/building-devices.html
In the past, I've spent a fair bit of time criticizing Google for calling Android "open source", but not releasing the source. Now that it appears that they are actually doing it, let me be the first to say that this is great. Well done, Google.
So... call me crazy, but I think it's wrong to praise a project which claims to be open-source for, um, actually releasing source. And honestly, the fact that we've come to this indicates just how completely Google has failed at being an open-source citizen.
If you can download the source, distribute it, modify it, collaborate, and install the modified version easily on your device; then it's a quantum leap forward from any other mass-market mobile device.
In my opinion, that's huge. Right now, google is offering you the ability to actually know what your phone is doing (a huge issue when it comes to government or corporate surveillance), and puts everyone on a level playing field when it comes to writing applications and improvements, and it will likely speed up the convergence of networks so that everything is data (thus eliminating the separate billing for voice and SMS).
Eventually there will be more open, collaborative development. But let's have some patience -- PC's took a long time to be liberated (even now, many people think linux is "not ready for the desktop" and it has a small share). What google is doing is bringing linux to everyone on a new platform and already getting real market share. That's no small achievement.
So, the Android website is packed full of information about how to clone the Android repository and build it from scratch, but I just want to browse it online. Is there some official "gitweb" site or something that I can poke at?
For example, source of the MMS conversation list:
https://github.com/android/platform_packages_apps_mms/blob/m...
-- update: Another great place to browse the source, with working links to other classes, multiple versions etc, is grepcode:
http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/ext/co...
Related: how's Apple's "open" FaceTime specification coming along? Still waiting on just the specification here. Not even code.
(Edit: You'll downvote me, but not the troll? WTF?)
In the past, I've spent a fair bit of time criticizing Google for calling Android "open source", but not releasing the source. Now that it appears that they are actually doing it, let me be the first to say that this is great. Well done, Google.
I doubt they released the 3G stack part though. Unless I can't make a 3G equivalent to wireshark I'll have a hard time calling the platform open.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They've open sourced every version but Honeycomb and had reasons for doing so.
The only stated reason I've heard is "the code is ugly," which was found to be... unconvincing here on HN. Are you aware of another reason, specifically one which would be convincing?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What people criticized about them was the delay of an open source release to sustain their business strategy (commoditize their products' complements via open source but keep a integrated experience by proprietary early-access agreements - see also http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html ). This release doesn't change Google's strategy nor the fact that they will continue to release Android's sour…
> This release doesn't change Google's strategy nor the > fact that they will continue to release Android's source > code in the future with a significant delay compared to > early-access partners. As of today there is not a single phone on the market that runs Android 4.0. Besides, open-source does not mean open-development. They have every right to release the code to whomever they want, whenever they want. And bec…
Google has done a lot to confuse this by referring to everything as just "open". They were still calling Android open even when it didn't meet Andy Rubin's own tweeted 'definition of open'.