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Keep Android Open

keepandroidopen.org

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Re: Keep Android Open

#631

Post by davisr »

andoando wrote: post #620
davisr wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I charge for copies of free software I wrote, an AGPLv3+ desktop application, and earn about $2k MRR from it. Most people don't care about your choice of license, they just want software that conveniently solves their problem(s). If they want to share it, that's fine. They're giving it to people who wouldn't have bought it anyway. If those grantees ever want an official copy, with updates and support, they come back…

The problem is with someone taking your whole software, branding and marketing it as their own and undercutting your service for half the price, not individual using it for personal reasons.

So what? That sounds like competition, which is healthy in a free market.

And it's not a service, it's a copy. Customers are explicitly allowed to resell it, and they have. And I still earn enough cash to continue developing it.

And I have the search engine top hits. And I have thousands of social media comments linking to my website. Copying a business isn't just about copying the product. They have to copy my reputation, too. And my sales channels.

Stop being so afraid. Selling free software is good, and sustainable, and those who think otherwise are extremely naive, ignorant, or with ulterior motives.

Re: Keep Android Open

#632

Post by fsflover »

franga2000 wrote: post #511
liendolucas wrote: post #283

I'm going to say something that probably will get me down votes: Why do we have to beg Google to keep Android open? Seriously. So many open source projects have risen out of real and concrete needs and successfully made their way into our every day lives. A new platform needs to rise that breaks out completely from Google. I've given PostmarketOS a go (with a PinePhone) and while today I can't say it isn't a daily dr…

Because we can't install that on phones and even if we did, we need to use Android apps to do basic daily things. Phones are not like PCs, you can't "just install a different OS". You also can't just build a phone from parts like you can with a PC, it comes locked in with the OS, with proprietary drivers and advanced cryptographic DRM measures. And even if we did get things to the level of desktop Linux, we can't run…

> Phones are not like PCs, you can't "just install a different OS"

They should be. Mine is exactly like that.

Re: Keep Android Open

#634

Post by lukeschlather »

state_less wrote: post #356
TeMPOraL wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Answer: bank/financial apps, enterprise apps, government apps and copyrighted media (music, video, games, books, ...). Those are the players that demand excessive control over end-user devices, and thus the ultimate driver behind the problem we're discussing. It's not that a new mobile platform couldn't possibly succeed. It's an open platform that cannot, because aforementioned players don't want it, and without them…

Back in '99 Linux didn't run Excel/Word/Powerpoint or most games, but I ran it anyway. What others call showstoppers are for me inconveniences. I have a motorolla edge 2024 that I'll load whatever open source phone OS will work well enough to place calls and browse the web. I'll keep another phone for the rare times some corporate/government overlord requires it. Many folks who refuse to use smartphones, similarly ow…

I have a lot of use cases for general purpose computers. If I am operating an event, "inconveniences" are literal showstoppers. When I'm running sound at a performance, switching audio inputs needs to work instantly and with essentially perfect reliability.

Another use case which Linux has a lot of trouble with is operating as a replacement for a pen-and-paper notepad. When I set a computer down for a day, I should be able to turn it on instantly and see the notes that I wrote 3 weeks ago. There are a variety of reasons this doesn't work on Linux. You say "that's an inconvenience" but there are circumstances in which being able to read those notes without needing to wait 30 minutes for the laptop to get enough charge and boot up could be a matter of life or death.

If these kinds of issues are mere inconveniences, that means the computer is a toy rather than a tool.

Re: Keep Android Open

#635

Post by blablabla123 »

bayindirh wrote: post #383
state_less wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in '99 Linux didn't run Excel/Word/Powerpoint or most games, but I ran it anyway. What others call showstoppers are for me inconveniences. I have a motorolla edge 2024 that I'll load whatever open source phone OS will work well enough to place calls and browse the web. I'll keep another phone for the rare times some corporate/government overlord requires it. Many folks who refuse to use smartphones, similarly ow…

> Feel free to complain, but don't forget you can make choices. Of course. I can make a choice. When the choice is between being able to login to secure services with my SIM embedded e-signature, use mobile banking and conduct official business and not being able to do any of these things, making choices are easy. Running Linux on desktop is easy mode when compared to phones, and yes, I started using Linux on desktop…

When that security model is based around SIM swappable hardware, this sounds at least questionable. Mobile security seems like a contradiction in itself. I would say this is also why Google is so eager to also lock down the last degree of freedom. So the joke is on you when you use it for online banking

Re: Keep Android Open

#636

Post by imcritic »

micahdeath wrote: post #568
TeMPOraL wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology has a ratchet effect at scale - as a solution becomes widely adopted, it switches from being a convenience to being a necessity, because people start building more stuff on top of it. It's as true of to-the-minute accurate clocks as it is of smartphone banking. You can still run a version of Word from 2004. It's fine, if all you need is to write some thoughts down for yourself. But the moment you need to c…

Social Outcast here... It's pretty good.

[flagged]

Re: Keep Android Open

#637

Post by tredre3 »

NewJazz wrote: post #630
Arainach wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but it has enough market share that it can't be completely ignored. This is the Hacker News bubble in action. Most of the world, most of America, most of China, India, etc. haven't even heard of it. They ignore it and they thrive. Maybe you need to pay attention if you're dealing with certain European governments these days - I'm not sure because I completely ignore it and haven't paid attention since there was just…

Source on most of China/India not having heard of libreoffice?

Kingsoft recently announced that WPS Office has 620M MAU users, the bulk of which is in China. Microsoft has even more Office users in China

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-microsoft-office-rival...

So if China has heard of LibreOffice, they clearly didn't like what they've heard...

Re: Keep Android Open

#639

Post by viktorcode »

hueho wrote: post #589
viktorcode wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean Firefox that refuses to support web standards for encoded video streams for ideological reasons?

Wasn't aware of that, can you send a link explaining?

Here's the discussion of that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27432001

Re: Keep Android Open

#640

Post by tredre3 »

bluGill wrote: post #594
TeMPOraL wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology has a ratchet effect at scale - as a solution becomes widely adopted, it switches from being a convenience to being a necessity, because people start building more stuff on top of it. It's as true of to-the-minute accurate clocks as it is of smartphone banking. You can still run a version of Word from 2004. It's fine, if all you need is to write some thoughts down for yourself. But the moment you need to c…

Which is why we need to ban together. Libreoffice isn't dominate, but it has enough market share that it can't be completely ignored. Also if you are using it you are not alone - you are an annoying deviation, but there are enough of you that many cannot ignore you. The more people who also use libreoffice the more power we have. If we can get to just 5% market share we cannot be ignored. (it need not be libreoffice,…

LibreOffice's best guess is that they had 200M MAUs in 2019.

I personally find that hard to believe and they don't explain their methodology to arrive at that number (presumably they looked at the downloads and picked a number of users based on feelings).

But, if that number is true, then I suppose you're not only right, but LibreOffice is already near 5% market share.

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