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Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

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Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#371

Post by podnami »

leonidasrup wrote: post #368
this_user wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German companies, especially old school industrial ones like VW, have a very hard time understanding open platforms. The view everything through the lense of liability and compliance first. Their thinking is that if someone runs their app on a custom ROM and uses that to manipulate the app in any way, and that causes some extremely hypothetical damage, that they might be held liable for not having prevented this situ…

It looks like the software development at Volkswagen is done by mixed bag of different deparments with different quality. On one hand you have: Linux at Volkswagen "Software development without Linux is no longer possible within automotive environment. Therefore Volkswagen Group IT created and maintains a Linux distribution for our developers. This short talk will highlight our starting goal to integrate into the exi…

I’ve spent time doing software at VW and a few of its subsidiaries, and this matches my experience.

Compliance is everything, and SAFe (Scaled Agile) is deployed as a blunt instrument.

Management treats software exactly like hardware production lines—everything is just an "engineering process" that can be optimized on a spreadsheet.

The underlying assumption is that individual engineering talent is just an interchangeable commodity. Once you view developers as replaceable cogs, outsourcing the entire infrastructure to the lowest bidder in India becomes the logical conclusion.

It’s a textbook case of process-over-people driving institutional tech debt.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#372

Post by aucisson_masque »

moooo99 wrote: post #70

It is amazing how Volkswagen keeps messing up. I am currently in the market for a new car, an EV specifically. Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons, among them the excellent driving assist implementation. I got an offer from a dealer three weeks ago and was going to order the car, then the API for the community integration got turned off. I decided to hold back and see what comes from it. Now…

You're speaking of a company that made special programs to cheat on CO2 emissions during car inspections.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#373

Post by Kyuren »

moooo99 wrote: post #70

It is amazing how Volkswagen keeps messing up. I am currently in the market for a new car, an EV specifically. Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons, among them the excellent driving assist implementation. I got an offer from a dealer three weeks ago and was going to order the car, then the API for the community integration got turned off. I decided to hold back and see what comes from it. Now…

It's just a direct security risk for them no. Less control can lead to unpredictable behavior from their cars in the future. Why would they want to allow the environment which enables that.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#374

Post by askvictor »

Lio wrote: post #194
moooo99 wrote: post #70

It is amazing how Volkswagen keeps messing up. I am currently in the market for a new car, an EV specifically. Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons, among them the excellent driving assist implementation. I got an offer from a dealer three weeks ago and was going to order the car, then the API for the community integration got turned off. I decided to hold back and see what comes from it. Now…

I've had the same Golf since I bought it new in 2014. I like my Golf, so it should be an easy sale for VW to sell me a replacement. However, VW just seem to make gaff after gaff. Collecting information they shouldn't, exposing information they shouldn't have to hackers via lax security practices. How many rakes can a company step on? Now, they're blocking GapheneOS? They've got two hopes of selling me another 'Dub. (…

Or, for the Australians: Buckley's and none

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#375

Post by port11 »

Lio wrote: post #194
moooo99 wrote: post #70

It is amazing how Volkswagen keeps messing up. I am currently in the market for a new car, an EV specifically. Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons, among them the excellent driving assist implementation. I got an offer from a dealer three weeks ago and was going to order the car, then the API for the community integration got turned off. I decided to hold back and see what comes from it. Now…

I've had the same Golf since I bought it new in 2014. I like my Golf, so it should be an easy sale for VW to sell me a replacement. However, VW just seem to make gaff after gaff. Collecting information they shouldn't, exposing information they shouldn't have to hackers via lax security practices. How many rakes can a company step on? Now, they're blocking GapheneOS? They've got two hopes of selling me another 'Dub. (…

They appear to have no clue about what customers want. We’ve had VWs in the family for as long as I can remember. After I sold my Polo, a car I truly liked, that was the last of it.

Nobody wanted the crazy touch dashboards, data collection, emissions nonsense, etc.

Just make the damn car you’ve always made. Be reliable.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#376

Post by port11 »

moooo99 wrote: post #212
y-c-o-m-b wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons You should definitely reevaluate how you constructed your list. VW has a history of being scummy ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal ) and their ICE cars are notorious for being unreliable compared to the Japanese car-makers. To be fair, EVs do change the equation a bit, but given their scandal plagued past, there's no way I woul…

I currently own a 10 year old Seat Leon with not a single out of maintenance repair (if we ignore the cosmetic repair due to a wildlife encounter). My parents have owned multiple VW vehicles, with each of these lasting >15 years without major issues. I know they have a reputation of being unreliable compared to Toyota, but that hasn't been my personal experience and equally important: they do not look like a Toyota.…

Seat has been a refreshing alternative since the Arona came out, specifically the one with the amazing sound system. They’ve come a long way and are making some no-nonsense cars.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#377

Post by left-struck »

aljgz wrote: post #301

I might be soon moving to Europe and would need to get a new car, replacing my (mostly) beloved Toyota bz4x. Well I guess VW is out.

Buy a used car from a few years ago… do some research and make sure it doesn’t have anti features. This is the only option until manufacturers stop this crap

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#378

Post by port11 »

jstanley wrote: post #177
bogeholm wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless, of course, said owner cared for the environment

They can always drive less frequently or more slowly, that's within their power.

Cute. If I buy an A+ washing machine, but it turns out to use tons of electricity to wash the clothes better than expected, the solution isn’t to wash less clothes or do so less often — it’s calling the shop and returning it because its rating is fraud.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#379

Post by anonymousiam »

klausa wrote: post #354
anonymousiam wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has a pretty good legal team. Their developer ToS that absolves them of any sort of liability for anything. So this means VW is just being lazy and not seeking legal protection. https://play.google/developer-distribution-agreement.html

>Their developer ToS that absolves them of any sort of liability for anything. This is... obviously not true? If you could (somehow) meaningfully damage a car via the app, do you think VW wouldn't be liable because of the Google Play developer ToS?

My point was that Google would not be liable. VW cannot evade liability from app misbehavior by using Google Play Protect, so why do they do it?
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