Especially after people paying so much money for the devices, it's ludicrous that they are not allowed to make their own decisions and install what they want. Ownership, user rights, and privacy have been kicked in the face. If you can not install whatever software that you want, then people should be signing only rental agreements.
It is also more the reason to push Linux smartphones[1]. Android is not doing anything special, that people could not get or create for Linux phones.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_mobile_pho...
While not as powerful as root access, your user rights are almost completely gone.
You buy a $1,000 phone and $1,000 on a service plan which is not an insignificant amount of money for many, then take away every semblance of ownership.
Right to repair? Warranty void. Want to run language models Google doesn’t approve? Not anymore. Want to run your favorite VPN? Too secure, unavailable. Want to audit the security and scan the device you carry everywhere and stores your life’s data? Unapproved. Want to compete with anything that dents Google’s profits? Papers please developer.
Just because your nose is already caved in and you’re dazed from the repeated blows, doesn’t make it less of a face kick. It’s more of a curb stomp.
Also your comparisons to “kicked in the face” “curb stomped” “being in jail” are seriously over the top at this point. Continue making them only if you don’t want to be taken seriously.
For reference, if the field of technology had the walled garden concept and mass advertising propaganda available when x86 spread, you wouldn’t have an open pc either. We’re just fortunate to have escaped that reality (for now).
Imagine all of the technology we would have lost when the “education” we allow children to have on engineering/science requires a $100/yr subscription to even push buttons, and only select corporations are allowed to design or extend the capabilities behind multi-thousand dollar access restrictions. Innovation and society crippled to protect profits and control.
You not caring doesn’t negate the massive societal harm. Stop making personal attacks on a subject you’re clearly wrong about. That’s called shilling.
Which is why we should always applaud and support those who do care enough to sacrifice something in return: they are the ones ensuring at least _some_ things we disagree with do not come to fruition.
On my computer, I can choose to containerize applications I run with something like docker, flatpak or snaps; run them in a VM, under a separate user, in a chroot... or, not! I can get them from the Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/... archive or... not! Or I might compile it from source and run it directly or... not!
Based on source of the app I decide how much I trust it and thus decide on the encapsulation strategy for it (sometimes, none).
Yes, I understand having full control of your system has some minor downsides (you can mess things up more easily), but you can usually do that anyway (just fill up your phone storage with photos and see how your phone behaves).