Google admits Android 'both open and closed'

Re:Google admits Android 'both open and closed' by bad_user on Thursday April 14, 2011 @02:32PM (#2447886)

    The purpose of Free Software to build hardware?

No, you got it wrong. The purpose of Free Software is to escape from the monopolies created by proprietary software (i.e. only the parent company of such software can provide support and fix it for you); which is not the same with other products, like cars, for which you can always find a local repair-shop. So even if normal people are not developers or hardware builders, they can rely on local businesses that may be cheaper, while also helping the local community.

A valid point nonetheless. Search for any of RMS's talks and he'll bring this point up.

    No, because most people are not programmers

I've got dozens of non-programmers as friends. Many of them own iPhones. All of them know about jailbreaking, many of them did it -- some with net-tutorials, some by paying local smarty-pants that unlock phones for a living.

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Re:Google admits Android 'both open and closed' by wvenable on Thursday April 14, 2011 @03:26PM (#2448074)

> The purpose of Free Software is to escape from the monopolies created by proprietary software

Which is effectively impossible if the device running the software is locked down! Android, as Free Software, could be made effectively meaningless if I'm not able to tinker with that very software installed on my device. The FSF agrees, hence the GPL3. Telling me to make my own hardware, exactly what you said, doesn't help me at all.

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Re:Google admits Android 'both open and closed' by wvenable on Thursday April 14, 2011 @03:21PM (#2448052)

Sadly, that still shows that open will not win out in the market. Your friends jailbreak, sure, but they're still buying the most proprietary locked down device out there. Ask any of those iPhone owners if they'd give up their iPhone if it was no longer ever possible to jailbreak it.

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