If I have to be in handcuffs, I would rather them be high-quality hardware like Apple. So far, the only two things that have held me away from the Apple ecosystem are Linux and Android and the flexibility they offer. Seems like we are just left with Linux now. A very sad day.
Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
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Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#902So what are our options (eg for EU citizens) for lobbying in terms of legislation or directly to Google to show disagreement with this? It looks like many in this thread are against, but I don't see suggestions for action?
Honest answer? You need to lobby your national left-wing, pro-privacy parties to start being openly anti-immigration so that they can actually stop shrinking every year.
I'm sure this will be a massively unpopular one, but it doesn't change that this is the reality you're facing. Go look across the makeup of the EU parliament over the last 20 years and how it has shifted. Check the main reason people have voted this way. Then go look at how the EU parties vote.
"But it shouldn't be this way!" Then enjoy your further slide into authoritarianism.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#903We are in an age that being screwed by the Giant Techs is inevitable and there is pretty nothing much we can do.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#904The 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…
It's a sad state of affairs when a guy born in 1953 and a 70+ years old is our reference for freedom. What happened to GenX, Millenials and GenZ ? Why aren't there any more vocal activists doing something? The internet fuked us up. We're full of armchair experts "fighting" the cause laying in our coach.
Plenty of Gen Z caring about freedom, but unfortunately lot of them being deported from the U.S. for defending Palestinians.
I mean - Western world is a bit tougher place for protesting than it used to be, due to capital accumulation. Free SW is admirable but a pretty first world problem, unfortunately, low on the list of priorities.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#905Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…
I wish Firefox OS had succeeded, my first ever app was for it, it was all so much simpler and so much more free than the locked down systems of both major mobile OSes.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#906If your businesses idea doesn't work without you being evil, you deserve to go bankrupt. I perceive a tendency to assume it is necessary for a company like Google to maintain full control over our ecosystem to further our progress and maintain order. However, we should know by now that this isn't the case. You don't have to be evil to be useful. See GNOME, GrapheneOS, Steam, KDE, Wikipedia, Linux or Mozilla (previous…
Their business idea works great while not being evil in any new ways beyond what they were already tolerating with advertising. No, this particular brand of evil is so much more offensive, because they're just in it for love of the game.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#907As much as people are making this out to be a Google thing, I think this is more about the security requirements many countries are imposing.
I did some surface-level research, but I couldn’t find any country that explicitly or publicly requested this from Google.
While I saw countries discussing the issue, none of them seemed to ask Google directly to only allow authorized third party apps.
That makes me think this is entirely a power move. If those countries had actually asked Google to step in and make phones safer, there are other ways to do that. And if they did explicitly request this particular solution, then why isn’t it being implemented only in those countries?
This is a software-based solution—just like Apple limits certain features to specific regions, Google could do the same and restrict it to the countries that require it.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#908Well, there are two options now: Linux phones and forking/deGoogling Android. I still believe the second is far more viable. There never was much reason to do all the work twice when there's sufficiently well licensed source around, and much of the app/phone compatibility is built-in. Maybe it's time I give a chance to /e/ OS or something of the like...
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#909Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…
realistically, the end point for moderately tech savvy folks is going to a be two-device setup. one cheap phone for basic communication , all the corpo stuff like banking and shirt-and-tie social media + a wifi hotspot. then a second "practical use" device that uses the hotspot, that you fully control and do your tinkering with. edit: coming to think of it, teaching people to have a device for the "clean stuff" and s…
The end point is going to be you will only be able to connect to the Internet with a device that passes hardware attestation so people won't be able to tinker
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#910Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…
> Maybe it's time for a third large phone OS It's been that time for years . But it's easier said than done. The closest we've currently got are the various phone-targeted Linux distros out there. But they're not quite ready for serious usage for me; at least not on the Pinephone. Still, that's where to put your time & money if you're serious about wanting a change.
> easier said than done
This is true for both the engineering and business sides. Cyanogen’s failure showed that it ultimately doesn’t matter how good your software product is if your business side of things is poorly run. Same with the Pebble smartwatch - amazing product, terrible back office.