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Keep Android Open

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Re: Keep Android Open

#661

Post by keeda »

gethly wrote: post #545
keeda wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't hold my breath: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/windows-11-has-hit-1... https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/

On desktop, unknown OS cannot be anything else but Linux, so that's 20% altogether(16%+4%). But that does not matter. The shift has started last year when W10 support ended and due to how bad W11 is and it is just getting stronger and stronger. Watch increase in YT videos about moving from Windows to Linux, or social networks in general. You cannot miss it. I've been on windows since 95, before that DOS. So that is t…

All these points are brought up all the time but the upshot is, based on reporting from Microsoft and StatCounter, Windows marketshare actually grew.

Point is, we techies might chafe at and complain about all these anti-consumer shenanigans (Meta and privacy, anyone?) but it does not affect their business momentum, probably because the rest of the world just doesn't care.

Re: Keep Android Open

#662

Post by mistercheph »

RussianCow wrote: post #643
guerrilla wrote: post #598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> their primary desktop You're moving the goal post. Linix competed with the biggest software companies in the world in the server world and won. We can do it again in another market.

I'm not moving the goal post. We're talking about a consumer OS (Android). Servers are a completely different ball game with an entirely separate set of tradeoffs. On average, it's much easier for a company to adopt new, unknown tech than it is for laypeople who are not tech savvy.

You said, "There is just no reasonable way that the open source community can compete with a $3.8T company." But, Linux has completely decimated Microsoft's presence in the server and embedded markets. Look at what Microsoft was doing in the mid-2000's, they had a healthy server OS business, and they were spending billions trying to get Windows in embedded stuff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Embedded_Automotive)and it was a total failure because they could not compete with open source software, in the end, it wasn't even close.

These are markets far bigger than the consumer desktop licensing market where Microsoft can't even make a dent into Linux's dominance, this represents >$100B in annual lost revenue for microsoft. So yes, Linux already won, and it won big time, despite going up against the MSFT behemoth as you say.

Global Linux desktop usage is at about ~5% and growing while Windows is bleeding out and dying. And Microsoft doesn't care, go read their earnings reports to see why, their consumer desktop business does not matter except for it's ability to generate leads and demand for their actual core products. And geopolitical levers are also in Linux's favor, e.g. EU's desires for tech independence: the moves European governments were already making away from global tech products while funding domestic (often open source) alternatives are going to continue to accelerate:

- https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101135795

- https://nlnet.nl/project/index.html

- https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/denmarks-strategic-leap...

- https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/15/schleswig_holstein_op...

And to answer your original question again, yes, open source software can compete, and it often can compete with a comical fraction of the resources of its closed source competitor. It's not a surprise: The open source model works extremely well and is the most efficient way to build software and technology that we know of; human beings have been sharing technology in this way for the duration of recorded history.

Re: Keep Android Open

#663

Post by b00ty4breakfast »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #423
b00ty4breakfast wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, getting emails or text messages instead of having app alerts is luddism. Get real, dawg

Uhh yes - when 90% of adults worldwide have moved to smart phones - yes you are the Luddite. Email is for old people has been a meme for two decades https://www.techdirt.com/2007/11/15/email-is-for-old-people/

You can get email on your smartphone.

No, it's cool tho, worry about being "hip" and enjoy the authoritarian surveillance state that you are enabling because you've been indoctrinated to want "new thing" and to reject "old thing".

Re: Keep Android Open

#664

Post by colordrops »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #494
colordrops wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well fuck those venues. It's a small percentage. I've never run into one and I live in LA, a city with hundreds if not thousands of venues. So you only get 98% of the world instead of 100%. That 98% is far more than the the 100% of 10 years ago. Everyone wants perfection when they've already got abundance.

It has been reported that Ticketmaster has exclusive agreements with 70-80% of US venues. It's great that you have all the choices you do. For me, in western Ohio, every major venue for hundreds of miles in every direction is an exclusive Ticketmaster venue. You can't gain admittance to any show in those venues without a phone that can run their proprietary app. Ticketmaster is bullshit, for sure, but they're just on…

See this is the bullshit I'm taking about. You can print ticketmaster tickets.

So much self victimization to avoid using open alternatives.

Re: Keep Android Open

#665

Post by surajrmal »

fdsjgfklsfd wrote: post #653
surajrmal wrote: post #638

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with this mentality is that you're not proposing a solution that solves the problem Google and Apple are trying to solve (or are at least stating they are). Rather than just vent about ideals, showing up to the table and listening to the requirements of all stakeholders (even if they differ from yours) will lead to a more productive result. I would not listen to your concerns if you didn't listen to mine.

They aren't actually trying to solve any real problem.

Feel free to cite some sources. I have plenty of anecdotes to suggest the problem exists, although I've not looked for data to prove it either way. However if you would like suggest it's not real you should prove it.

Re: Keep Android Open

#666

Post by JoshTriplett »

colordrops wrote: post #664
EvanAnderson wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been reported that Ticketmaster has exclusive agreements with 70-80% of US venues. It's great that you have all the choices you do. For me, in western Ohio, every major venue for hundreds of miles in every direction is an exclusive Ticketmaster venue. You can't gain admittance to any show in those venues without a phone that can run their proprietary app. Ticketmaster is bullshit, for sure, but they're just on…

See this is the bullshit I'm taking about. You can print ticketmaster tickets. So much self victimization to avoid using open alternatives.

> See this is the bullshit I'm taking about. You can print ticketmaster tickets.

So much confidence for an incorrect answer. As cited elsewhere in the thread, some venues are "no app, no entry", and do not have paper tickets.

Re: Keep Android Open

#667

Post by drnick1 »

stackghost wrote: post #397
drnick1 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I urge you not too. iOS is fully locked down -- Apple won't allow you to exert control over the hardware that you bought and own, it's shocking.

I've owned iPhones before, they're fine.

If by fine you mean "they work," then sure. But since it is a closed platform controlled by Apple, you are always one law away from client-side scanning of your conversations, emails and any other content on your Phone. Of course, this will be done to "catch terrorists and protect the children," and Apple will obviously comply.

Re: Keep Android Open

#668

Post by ollybrinkman »

Openness at the OS level matters less if the platform layer above it is closed. Even on Android you're dependent on Google Play Services for payments, push notifications, and maps — all closed. The real battle is at the API and payments layer. The web had a brief moment of openness there, but we ended up with Stripe, Twilio, etc. as de facto monopolies. The next round will be interesting with AI agents that can programmatically switch providers based on price.

Re: Keep Android Open

#669

Post by int0x29 »

microtonal wrote: post #526
fragmede wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But unfortunately, it turns out that some people you interact with aren't actually your friend. That guy that seems totally legit and just wants your sister to install his fun little game/app that he wrote is actually trying to get her to install an app that's going to track your location and read all your messages and copy all your photos. To keep her safe from the "actually" bad people, of course.

By default their app cannot though because Android uses proper sandboxing and gated API access. So you actually have to give the app location access, access to your messages and access to your photos. Well, unless you use one of the many crappy Android devices that never get security updates, are running old kernels, old vendor security patch levels, miss all Android security patches, except applying the backported s…

The tricky bit with that is it would get a monopoly lawsuit from manufacturers with a lot more money to throw around quickly. The biggest problem in improving android security posture is getting manufacturers to have robust security and release updates without getting monopoly lawsuits.

It also doesn't help that mobile carriers can delay updates for months. Thanks T-Mobile.

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