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Keep Android Open

keepandroidopen.org

191–200 of 907 posts

Re: Keep Android Open

#191
post #7

No matter how this turns out, I'm sure GrapheneOS will make a smart effort. https://grapheneos.org/ But long-term, Android is such a massive code base, and was designed more for surveillance and consumption, than for privacy&security and the user's interests. I think getting mainline Linux on viable and sustainable on multiple hardware devices is warmer, fuzzier foundation. (Sort of a cross between Purism's work on t…

>than for privacy&security and the user's interests. Even if that was true, AOSP is better for privacy and security than any other Linux distro.

By which criterion? This sounds wrong.

Re: Keep Android Open

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And good lock unlocking anything over 5 years old because the updated website doesn't support what you've got. Been there, it sucks.

To be fair, for "anything over 5 years old" you can probably find a privilege escalation exploit.

the question is not "being able to", the question is "being able to with a reasonable effort".

wandering the web to find an exploit is way beyond my spare time.

Re: Keep Android Open

#193
post #145

While I understand the reasons behind this campaign, I have mixed feelings about it. As an iPhone user, I find it frustrating that deploying my own app on my own device requires either reinstalling it every 7 days or paying $100 annually. Android doesn't have this limitation, which makes it simpler and more convenient for personal use. However, when it comes to publishing apps to the store, I take a different view. I…

Android already has this strict oversight, in theory, in the form of the Play Store. And yet. Personally I feel much more safe and secure downloading a random app from F-Droid, than I do from Google, whose supposed watchful eyes have allowed genuine malware to be distributed unimpeded.

Exaclty. Play Store takes a cut from what it is selling, so they should be more strict what can be sold, not lock the whole platform.

Re: Keep Android Open

#194
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Just because we “allow nazis” doesn’t mean society will turn into an authoritarian dictatorship. People are not stupid.

Hmmm. The rise of nazis to power from time to time is evidence to the contrary.

Most people, might not be 'stupid'; but complacency in the population is enough to drop the guard down.

Re: Keep Android Open

#195
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Just because we “allow nazis” doesn’t mean society will turn into an authoritarian dictatorship. People are not stupid.

> People are not stupid.

There are plenty of stupid people around.

We interact with them every day.

Re: Keep Android Open

#196
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Just because we “allow nazis” doesn’t mean society will turn into an authoritarian dictatorship. People are not stupid.

In this case, it was precisely the act of "allow nazis" that led Google to its current situation.

People aren't stupid, but the fact that Google is in this situation proves that we should have been less naive.

Re: Keep Android Open

#197
The play store ID process is ridiculous, their AI is making up BS why it wouldn't let your documents pass, clearly no human in the loop.

In the EU we can report this to: comp-market-information@ec.europa.eu

State that: Google is abusing its dominant position on the market for Android-app distribution by “denial of access to an essential facility”. Google is not complying with their "gatekeeper" DMA obligations (Article 5(4), Article 6(12), Article 11, Article 15)

Attach evidence.

Financial penalty is the only way to pressure this company to abide law.

Re: Keep Android Open

#198
If people working for Google had a conscience, they would be working to break the system from within. At this point it's leaving the confines of anti-consumerism and entering into a gray area of basic human rights abuse. It's clearly a cartel market with the other big players (Apple and others to a lesser extend) that needed to be broken 10 years ago(if it were possible).

It reminds me a bit of the book "The Constant Soldier", depicting Auschwitz guards and staff enjoying their carefree holiday at a nearby lake resort, before going back to burning people. Might seem like hyperbole, but I think we're rushing towards an ugly plutocracy.

Re: Keep Android Open

#199
Android has not been really open for a long time now.

- Many APIs have been moved to Google Play Services (which is not open source), and many apps have come to rely on them. You can emulate it partially but not fully, see second point below.

- Some features like device attestation / SafetyNet fail on non-"official" devices, for example many banking or government ID apps refuse to work on open source os like GrapheneOS

Re: Keep Android Open

#200
post #58

Back in the 2007 or when it came out in Sweden I bought the iPhone and started developing for it. This was cool, new and exciting and it was fine as long as my company was paying the $100 fee every year. But then I switched jobs and worked at a company which produced mostly open source code. Suddenly I would have to pay $100 every year just to be able to put my own software on the phone ... This is why I switched to…

See I was similar but the big difference back then was a random little 99c app on iOS would make you several thousand dollars a month, so the $100/year fee was nothing for a long time. It was only after around 2012 that things changed.

On Google Play I never, ever had any app be anything close to as successful as on iOS. I think I probably made less than 1/100th the amount I did on iOS back in the day.

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