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TextSecure uses Google's push service because there is no viable alternative available.
Than, what's the point of using a secure communication app if you must also install a spying rootkit to make it work? For me it makes the whole TS not viable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
TextSecure uses Google's push service because there is no viable alternative available.
Than, what's the point of using a secure communication app if you must also install a spying rootkit to make it work? For me it makes the whole TS not viable.
[1]: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/issues/127
I am wondering how long it is before we see an effort to do to Google Play Services what Google did to Java - copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations. I would th…
EDIT : wanted to update my message but deleted it!pasting it here : the value of Android,for most people, is in Google services... not in Linux.People dont care what os android is running,the fact that it is Linux is irrelevant for them,(but not for google). > copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideall…
What if we modify the client libraries such that they still use Google services but push the content (such as messages, contacts etc.) in encrypted form. This would be no different than using GMail but with an offline client with PGP.
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Presumably if developers only distribute their app via the Play Store, they aren't too worried about whether their app users are using the Play Store.
presumably, as a programmer, you check return values. Especially if they could be a null reference
And related to null-checking, I took the pervasive approach in one of my apps for fun. It's hilarious - almost 1/3 of my app is checking if something is null. Makes you wish for a switch to a language where nulls don't exist unless explicitly asked for.
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> So developers only check the ones they know "could" be null, in normal operation. Not the good ones. Normal operation isn't when you're dealing with a mobile device, there could be any number of reasons why your app can't reach a certain service delivered by some API so better to be prepared for that eventuality.
Yes, a good programmer writes a robust application, but ignoring the specifics of this case is being entirely disingenuous. If I write an app to use the Play API and only distribute it via the Play Store then there is no good reason for me to spend my time writing `if (foo != null)` all over the place to placate someone trying to circumvent the official way of downloading my application. You have to balance the trade…
That's an artifact of the chosen environment. Not checking for errors in that environment is a bug.
I have been running this setup (Cyanogenmod + f-droid, no google apps) for the past 9 months and have been quite happy. I use owncloud for keeping my calendar, contacts, and files sync'ed. K9mail + APG for (signed/encrypted) email. As the article notes OsmAnd is workable, but the what is available through f-droid is 2 versions behind (apparently with low chance of future updates due to difficulties building it). Many…
This is really informative post for separating Android from Google, to the maximum extent for conscientious people. Location, contacts, wifi access points getting shared with Google very much annoys me. But I was even more peeved of Android when there was no way to store contacts locally. No option to store on the phone, but instead you had to save to google account. I am not doing that. So I went the whole hog and i…
I have no problems whatsoever storing contacts on my device...and my friend puts all his on his SIM card.
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PCs were for boring suit types in the 90s. Windows 3.1, ugh. Lots of people ran Amigas or Macs at home and RISC workstations at university or work. Then Linux happened and you could run something nice even on a PC. It involved tinkering but advancing by leaps and bounds, certainly not quixotic.
Running something nice on Linux is still challenging today, in 2014. It was no picnic in the 90's. Credentials: I was running Linux before Linux was cool, it was called Minix.
That made it pretty unusable for all but the most tech savvy.
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Yes, a good programmer writes a robust application, but ignoring the specifics of this case is being entirely disingenuous. If I write an app to use the Play API and only distribute it via the Play Store then there is no good reason for me to spend my time writing `if (foo != null)` all over the place to placate someone trying to circumvent the official way of downloading my application. You have to balance the trade…
> The more error checking code one writes the more one must maintain and the higher the potential for bugs. That's an artifact of the chosen environment. Not checking for errors in that environment is a bug.
Android is a lost cause, all the man power being donated to the project is just going to line google's pockets and lock us further into closed hardware and barely opensource phones. The only future is a real linux phone, debian or ubuntu mobile, where one day there will be effortless desktop/tablet/mobile unified development. Why push for developers to waste time porting between c++ and java?
I have to call bullshit on this one. Google has open sourced a fully featured mobile operating system, with an already free kernel, an optimized and secure app runtime for mobile applications that they keep on improving, a completely functional and usually well-liked user interface, open development tools and even a set of open source core applications needed for basic smartphone functionality. As this article demons…
Its interesting how Google forces handset makers to ship Google's proprietary software if they wish to use the Android "brand". However, they don't care if handset makers ship device driver code thus crippling the ability of anyone wishing to create a fully working AOSP ROM. I suppose in Googles eyes, Android = more data for Google to mine/sell/profit-from. Not surprising or disappointing. The Advertising business is not pretty.
Android is a lost cause, all the man power being donated to the project is just going to line google's pockets and lock us further into closed hardware and barely opensource phones. The only future is a real linux phone, debian or ubuntu mobile, where one day there will be effortless desktop/tablet/mobile unified development. Why push for developers to waste time porting between c++ and java?
Right now, my only three hopes are Jolla, people attempting to port Freemantle to GTA04, and the people just trying to bring the Hildon UI to jessie which also runs on GTA04.
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=93251 http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=91308
I probably should mention UbuntuOS as another hope, but I simply don't trust Ubuntu to deliver something that resembles traditional Linux. If they do, I'm in.
My hopes for Tizen were bashed to hell by this: https://www.tizen.org/irclogs/%23tizen.2013-01-20.log.html
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasterman - well known for http://www.enlightenment.org/ )
Phone manufacturers aren't interested in being servants, only masters.