Hopefully we get another EU action here soon, to put them back in their place.
Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
601–610 of 1001 posts
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#602[dead]
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#603If this is a thing then the solution they offer is incorrect. A big giant red screen: “warning the identity of this application developer has not been verified and this could be an application stealing your data, etc” would have worked. What they want is to get rid of apps like YouTube Vanced that are making them lose money (and other Play Store apps)
You can just use the browser an ublock to browse youtube
Let's see for how long this remains true. Every step they get closer to making you watch what they want, instead of what you want, it becomes more likely they will try to even prevent you from viewing videos when you use uBlock Origin.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#604I'm curious how this is gonna fly considering the DMA in the EU.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#605We have 2 ecosystems for mobile and the worst case scenario is starting to be clear for Android.
I love GrapheneOS but they can only thrive if Google tolerate them. So in its current form, this is not a medium or long term solution (anymore).
We really cannot afford to think in terms of "Android OS" or open source OS anymore the problem is getting much bigger.
My guess is soon in many "free" countries, ISP will mandate connecting with a "Certified" device (someone was saying that in Brazil only cell phones certified by the teleco government agency can be imported already). And on mobile it is easy to implement since you need a (e)SIM. The Internet is still hard to control at the protocol level, but the gates are easy to mostly control (your ISP).
In terms of mobile computing I mostly care about being able to access my home network from the places I am 80% of the time (and I can always bridge to the Internet from there). So the real battle is really at the mesh and multi-hop mobile ad hoc networks. This is the aspect we neglected for 25 years.
Regarding mobile, the battle for Android is lost, time to look into things like B.A.T.M.A.N [0] so we be able to keep another open source mobile platform useful.
For anything "money" related, your bank (which is inevitably regulated) will have to mandate a certified device too. It will work on (some) Linux too.
Ever wondered why for example the Fedora project [1] is proudly part of things like The Digital Public Goods Alliance [2] who works with many govs and if you really look into it they are all about digital ids and "restoring trust"?
- [0] https://www.open-mesh.org/projects/open-mesh/wiki
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#606The funny thing is Stallman started his fight like half a century ago and on regular days Hacker News shits on him eating something off of his foot and not being polished and diplomatic, and loves practical aspects of Corporate Open Source and gratis goodies and doesn't particularly care about Free Software. On this day suddenly folks come out of the woodwork advocating for half baked measures to achieve what Stallma…
Stallman actively hurts the cause with his behaviour. I'm not only talking about his eccentricities, but also the adversarial and combative language. Yes, Amazon is trying to swindle us, but few people will be convinced of that when you start your argument by calling the kindle an "Amazon swindle" every time, directly implying that anyone who has one is an idiot or even malicious. Yes, it's unfair that someone can be…
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Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#607Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access
Root access on your phone isn't enough: there's layers below root.
Yep. I don't need/want root access, as it is too much of a security risk IMO. But of course the possibility to install a `su` binary should be there.
I primarily want to be able to unlock the bootloader to install a custom de-googled Android Version (such as GrapheneOS) and then lock the bootloader again (using a custom_avb_key). This is currently possible with Google's Pixel devices, but most Android devices don't even offer this...
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#608Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access
To be fair to Google, they got so much cricticism for allowing so many spam apps.
> we will be confirming who the developer is, not reviewing the content of their app or where it came from.
What is the point of that? Then app content is the problem.
Ideally if they setup manual review then it would resolve some issues.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#609Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access
To be fair to Google, they got so much cricticism for allowing so many spam apps.
Yeah on the play store, nothing wrong with enforcing standards there, but enforcing a monopoly on it changes that.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#610I always wonder, who are the developers doing this? don't they feel bad about going through with these changes or do they fool themselves thinking it's the right thing? is it greed?
many other fields have an explicit or implicit ethics code which we seem to lack. I'm thinking about other fields like medicine, engineering, etc. Probably since the entry level to development is low and anyone can do it, it means there's no way to enforce/teach it?
The usual answer that their livelyhoods depend on it is simplistic, these are the best paid developers in the US, pretty sure they have some sway power. There are doctors in way poorer countries with higher ethics standards.