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Google is defragging Android

arstechnica.com

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Re: Google is defragging Android

#161

Post by 4ad »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #141
wtracy wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's still orders of magnitude more open than any of > the other mobile OS available on the market. Symbian? OpenMoko? The upcoming SailfishOS, Tizen, Firefox OS, and Ubuntu phone? Oh, you meant in the U.S., I guess. (Yes, I know that all the above have either already largely failed or have sketchy futures. That's an entirely different kettle of fish.) > Open source fanatics are impossible to satisfy All I want is…

Firefox and Ubuntu phone both run on top of an Android layer so they're not great argument against the openess of Android.

No, absolutely not. Ubuntu on existing Android phones uses the Linux kernel with the Android patches so it can use the OEM binary drivers. It doesn't use any bits of Android. FirefoxOS is the same.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#163

Post by king_jester »

rst wrote: post #46
estel wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, Google Play Services largely encompasses those features that were /always/ closed source in Android: maps, google+ and GCM. The Google applications that are core to the "standard" Android experience for most users have also always been closed source: Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar. There are still a lot of new features being introduced to the core Android APIs, with fragmentation issues being mitigat…

They're also migrating some functionality from core Android into Play Services. For example, the replacement for the (effectively broken) proximity alerts is the new geofencing API. But that's not in core Android, it's in Play Services, even though it's all on-device functionality, that doesn't need to interact with any Google central machinery.

Outside of APIs to interact with GPS and sensor data, the location APIs in the Android framework have always operated with Google APIs for determining things like locations, addresses, etc. This is really nothing new and devs are free to write their own geofencing API.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#164

Post by king_jester »

kalleboo wrote: post #128
ajross wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. "GPS" data is certainly available and part of the standard open source framework: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/pack... But access to e.g. Google's giant wifi-to-location database isn't part of that API. And it's a good service, and something that is hard to replicate and thus a competetive advantage. But to speak to the upthread parent: it has nothing to do with "drivers". The HAL…

> And it's a good service, and something that is hard to replicate and thus a competetive advantage. It's a service that Google will not let manufacturers replace even if they want to. Horribly anti-competetive. http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=14923

If Google had allowed this, it would mean using Google branded android apps that use a completely different location API. I would be nervous about this if I were Google, when something goes wrong or doesn't work with the API, my apps will take the heat since the average user won't know the difference between Skyhook and Google location APIs. Further, as a consumer I would have never been able to switch back to the Google location APIs without flashing. Of course, manufacturers can still have their own apps using Skyhook's SDK.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#165

Post by rst »

tomkarlo wrote: post #104
rst wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're also migrating some functionality from core Android into Play Services. For example, the replacement for the (effectively broken) proximity alerts is the new geofencing API. But that's not in core Android, it's in Play Services, even though it's all on-device functionality, that doesn't need to interact with any Google central machinery.

That's inaccurate. Location services doesn't just use GPS - it depends on data from Google when determining location via wifi, which is more battery efficient. So there are definitely Google-specific elements in there.

Proximity Alerts are part of the released AOSP core source. The replacement is not. They can interact with the WIFI location provider, but don't have to, and are still functional even if it's disabled (which is easy to do from the stock UI). So, this is a function which has been moved from core AOSP to Play Services.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#166

Post by threeseed »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #143
gaadd33 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, CUPS was around before Apple's involvement and they purchased the source + hired the developer.

It's always fun to remember a time when Mac OS X's printer support was so bad (mostly due to low marketshare) that they had to adopt the Linux printing solution, and it was an immediate and massive improvement. And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you.

OSX printer support wasn't bad because of low marketshare. It was bad because it was a new operating system. And it wasn't just printers but everything. Drivers, applications, utilities. They all took years to move to OSX.

And most technologically astute people (young or old) know that OSX relies extensively on UNIX software of which CUPS is just one part.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#167

Post by ZeroGravitas »

ntoshev wrote: post #160
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #147

Google/Android really can't win now that this "fragmentation" frame has stuck. Google's been updating core parts of the system like this from day one. The Android Market/Play Store, Maps, Youtube and many other things have received massive updates and been pushed out to millions of people. However, the dominant storyline at the time was that "Android devices don't get upgrades, because fragmentation". Then suddenly,…

Who cares about the tech bloggers? Android customers don't care about fragmentation. They care about having working apps. Developers care about fragmentation, and this approach (unlike updating Youtube in this way) helps with their problem, regardless of what bloggers say and who is in a "war" with whom.

They've always had working apps. My whole point is that nothing in reality has changed. That's why I'm focussing on what bloggers say, because that's the only thing that is different.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#169

Post by prewett »

unono wrote: post #58

Hackers need to do something about the big companies abusing the app store system. Google, Apple, Amazon are taking far too much fees from independent developers. - Apple's store especially needs to be killed fast for innovation to thrive, Apple is turning out to be the new Microsoft, Tim Cook should fear the wrath of developers - and Google needs to be reminded that it's business could swiftly vanish if it isn't pro…

Hosting a file + handling payments (in all major currencies) + providing worldwide visibility via search and app categories

Those last two are pretty big, if you ask me.

Re: Google is defragging Android

#170

Post by FedRegister »

levosmetalo wrote: post #156
FooBarWidget wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Open source" has always been about marketing and convenience. If you're looking for "freedom", you should join the "free software" movement instead, which is a distinct one. Back in the days, people argued that free software will not survive if they keep being idealistic. Instead, people argued that free software should market more, and compromise more with proprietary software. Well, here is the result.

Please put "Free Software (c)(tm)(r) FSF" or some appropriate similar notice. Otherwise people not familiar with the overloaded meaning of "Free" used by FSF would get a wrong impression that they are actually free to do whatever they want with it.

You are free to do whatever you want with the software. The only real restriction under the GPL is that you are not allowed to distribute modified binaries of GPL software without releasing the corresponding source code.
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