Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Keep Android Open

f-droid.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

551–560 of 764 posts

Re: Keep Android Open

#551

Post by skue »

How do Google and Apple plan to deal with the immense influx of personal apps that AI will help non developers build?

Recently, I was thinking that AI might force Apple to open their devices, because if Apple’s competitor allows sideloading, then the creatives and builders most likely to build their own apps will migrate to the platform providing less friction to getting custom apps onto their device. But apparently THIS is the time that Google has chosen to start locking down their devices as well?!

Re: Keep Android Open

#552

Post by randomNumber7 »

microtonal wrote: post #524
aiauthoritydev wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is little surprising a lot of smart people somehow miss this simple logic. Android is massive and extremely popular and I know several people who have been scammed already. It is important that Google makes this harder for scammers. Google is not doing this to harm developers but to protect their users.

You already get a pretty scary warning when you try to install an app that was downloaded outside the Play Store. If people still install malware, that's the responsibility that comes with freedom. Your line of reasoning can be applied everywhere in life - people should not be able to do their own bank transfers or use a credit card, I know several people that who have been scammed already . Moreover, there are bette…

> that's the responsibility that comes with freedom

We live in a dark age where the majority of people would gladly give their freedom so the don't have to be responsible.

Re: Keep Android Open

#553

Post by briandear »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #75
tux1968 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? It's their operating system, and they're trying to balance quite a few competing priorities. Scammers are not a threat to dismiss out of hand (i've had family who were victims). For it to be truly considered open source, you should be able to fork it and create your own edits to change the defaults however you wish. Whether that is still a possibility or not, is a completely separate issue from how they proc…

> Why not? It's their operating system It's my phone.

Is anything stopping you from coding your own OS?

Re: Keep Android Open

#554

Post by briandear »

Why doesn’t the market respond? If people don’t like Android, it seems like a market opportunity to make another OS. People love to complain about Apple and Google’s “monopoly,” but doesn’t that present an opportunity for someone to build their own thing and if enough people want it, they will be able to sell it?

Re: Keep Android Open

#555

Post by sneak »

tadfisher wrote: post #7

Just to put out what Google actually said in their blog post [0]: > We appreciate the community's engagement and have heard the early feedback – specifically from students and hobbyists who need an accessible path to learn, and from power users who are more comfortable with security risks. We are making changes to address the needs of both groups. > We heard from developers who were concerned about the barrier to ent…

> We are designing this flow specifically to resist coercion, ensuring that users aren't tricked into bypassing these safety checks while under pressure from a scammer. It will also include clear warnings to ensure users fully understand the risks involved, but ultimately, it puts the choice in their hands.

Perhaps this, when shipped, will pave the way for sane regulation of Apple’s practices along these lines, too.

Re: Keep Android Open

#557

Post by gf000 »

beeflet wrote: post #195
arcanemachiner wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this finally pushes adoption of truly open Linux phones, then this will end up being a good thing, and the greatest favor that Google could do for the open source community. Tragically, Linux phones have languished and are in an absolute state these days, but a lot of the building blocks are in place if user adoption occurs en masse. (Shout out to the lunatics who have kept this dream alive during these dark years…

The limitation of linux phones is hardware. I have been watching the progress of postmarketOS on the fairphone 4, and looks promising.

No, gnu/Linux is nowhere near usable as a daily driver mobile device for 99% of the population.

Besides having terrible battery life and security, it's just a hobby thing. Android has had millions of dev hours poured into it to be what it is.

Re: Keep Android Open

#558

Post by 1718627440 »

tux1968 wrote: post #514
1718627440 wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You should be able to install your own operating system So you draw the line between the bootloader and the OS. Other people draw the line between the OS and applications. Most (nearly all) people can't write either, so for them it is just part of the device. > you don't get to tell them how theirs should operate. I paid for it, and I allow it to be legal in the jurisdiction I (partly) control. So it is not only th…

Yes, and it should be 100% legal for you to hack it. Get the soldering iron out, and the debugger, and alter it to your hearts content. You bought it, you own it. But the supplier should be under no obligation to make any of that easy for you. Just like they shouldn't be required to offer it in pink if that's your favorite color. It's up to you to paint it yourself. And if you want to load random apk's, you'll have t…

I think you misunderstood me, the software is part of the device I paid for and own.

If I tell someone to install a light switch in my living room and then it occasionally switches states when someone presses another switch at my outside wall and occasionally refuses working, I don't feel like they fulfilled their contractual obligation. Same with smartphones and software.

I would agree with you if I would want additional features, like if I want a filesystem, but there is no filesystem manager yet, or if I want to install a package, but there is no package manager, or the package manager uses another format. But here there is a package manager and the package has the right format, so I tell the device to install it and it just doesn't solely because I am called John Brown and not Alphabet Inc. . That is not right.

Re: Keep Android Open

#559

Post by FrojoS »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #394

I want Google to lock down their platform. Hardcore locked down. So locked down you can't do anything with it at all. Because people need motivation to do something hard. Android has been a bloated walled garden for years. It should have been like a PC w/Windows or Linux: anyone should be able to make an app (any way they want), publish it, let anyone who wants to download it & run it. But that was never the plan. Th…

Reminds me of this scene from Andor:

-----

Luthen: Turning back will be impossible. You knew where this was going. You've always knew. Has anyone ever made a weapon that wasn't used? The network has been built. It's up. It grows or it dies. We've waited long enough.

Mon: Do you realise what you've set in motion?

Luthen: It was time for that as well.

Mon: Palpatine won't hestiate now.

Luthen: Exactly. We need it. We need the fear. We need them to over-react.

Mon: You can't be serious!

Luthen: The empire has been choking us so slowly we're starting not to notice. The time has come to force their hand.

Mon: People will suffer!

Luthen: That's the plan. You're not angry with me. I'm just saying out loud what you already know. There will be no rules going forward. If you're not willing to risk your conscious then surrender and be done with.

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao9ARb6dEfc

edited: formatting

Post reply on HN