because I really don’t understand this argument here.
Android is still FOSS. you can grab the source code, modify it and use it, if you really want.
even so, since Xiaomi provides you tools and codes to unlock the phone and install any other compatible system on it.
oh, no more updates then for MIUI? the heavily modified version of Android that Xiaomi is making and providing services for it? and then, the whole FOSSness is breaking for you if they say no more updates for their version if you open the loader? who would have thought.
why would you do that, in the first place? I guess to install other roms. so you probably don’t like MIUI anyway.
or you want to modify MIUI? you know that 90% of hacks just don’t fucking work with MIUI’s framework, right? that it’s breaking and shit. and then, if that happens, who would you call? well, not the ghostbusters but go to MIUI support snd blame them for your shitty modifications.
tell me, please, how Android is not FOSS anymore, I really wanna know what keeps you up at nights.
true, but you aren’t obligated to use any of that. the FOSSness of the OS itself doesn’t change.
lots of apps aren’t even FOSS on Android. FOSS ones usually have versions that aren’t dependent on Google Services, or you can patch them not to use them, with various results, that’s true.
If so much of the core Android experience is proprietary-dependent, can you really say Android itself is FOSS? Might as well call the non-proprietary, open-source parts something else… Like… Android Open Source Project (AOSP)?
AOSP can stand on its own foot on a device, you don’t need any peoprietary stuff to get it up and running (except maybe vendor specific things, like drivers, if the given device needs those). Maybe it’s my fault, but I would call that Android. (maybe it’s like Chrome vs Chromium, VSCode vs Codium etc…)
It’s another story people got used to the package Google provides, but in my understanding, it’s completely optional. You aren’t bound to the services they provide on a clean Android.
As a distinction AOSP vs Android is as important as Chromium vs Chrome. It is much more than semantics, it is literally the difference between an open-source project vs not.
Fact is if you present the de-Googled AOSP to regular users, they’d think it’s a broken experience without all the Google apps and services that people come to expect - Maps, Mail, Calendar etc. Drivers and device specifics firmware are also a big part of the foundational Android user experience. So to call Android = AOSP = open source is a mass simplification and definitely hand-waving away the reality of how each system operates and the whole point of open source projects.
So to call Android = AOSP = open source is a mass simplification and definitely hand-waving away the reality of how each system operates and the whole point of open source project
I absolutely don’t aggree with this part, especially the second half, but I see where you coming from and your reasoning.
Separate terms to tell different things apart, I’m not sure what’s there to disagree about. It’s literally in the name, Android Open Source Project lol.
Whatever happened to Android being FOSS?
You’re confusing Android and AOSP.
please tell me how Android is not FOSS anymore.
because I really don’t understand this argument here.
Android is still FOSS. you can grab the source code, modify it and use it, if you really want.
even so, since Xiaomi provides you tools and codes to unlock the phone and install any other compatible system on it.
oh, no more updates then for MIUI? the heavily modified version of Android that Xiaomi is making and providing services for it? and then, the whole FOSSness is breaking for you if they say no more updates for their version if you open the loader? who would have thought.
why would you do that, in the first place? I guess to install other roms. so you probably don’t like MIUI anyway.
or you want to modify MIUI? you know that 90% of hacks just don’t fucking work with MIUI’s framework, right? that it’s breaking and shit. and then, if that happens, who would you call? well, not the ghostbusters but go to MIUI support snd blame them for your shitty modifications.
tell me, please, how Android is not FOSS anymore, I really wanna know what keeps you up at nights.
The FOSS part of Android has been shrinking as Google let the FOSS apps die in favor of their proprietary apps.
And the worse they did is Play Services, meaning a lot of apps won’t run on a pure FOSS Android.
true, but you aren’t obligated to use any of that. the FOSSness of the OS itself doesn’t change.
lots of apps aren’t even FOSS on Android. FOSS ones usually have versions that aren’t dependent on Google Services, or you can patch them not to use them, with various results, that’s true.
If so much of the core Android experience is proprietary-dependent, can you really say Android itself is FOSS? Might as well call the non-proprietary, open-source parts something else… Like… Android Open Source Project (AOSP)?
I mean, sure, but this is no more than semantics.
AOSP can stand on its own foot on a device, you don’t need any peoprietary stuff to get it up and running (except maybe vendor specific things, like drivers, if the given device needs those). Maybe it’s my fault, but I would call that Android. (maybe it’s like Chrome vs Chromium, VSCode vs Codium etc…)
It’s another story people got used to the package Google provides, but in my understanding, it’s completely optional. You aren’t bound to the services they provide on a clean Android.
but I may be wrong.
As a distinction AOSP vs Android is as important as Chromium vs Chrome. It is much more than semantics, it is literally the difference between an open-source project vs not.
Fact is if you present the de-Googled AOSP to regular users, they’d think it’s a broken experience without all the Google apps and services that people come to expect - Maps, Mail, Calendar etc. Drivers and device specifics firmware are also a big part of the foundational Android user experience. So to call Android = AOSP = open source is a mass simplification and definitely hand-waving away the reality of how each system operates and the whole point of open source projects.
I absolutely don’t aggree with this part, especially the second half, but I see where you coming from and your reasoning.
Separate terms to tell different things apart, I’m not sure what’s there to disagree about. It’s literally in the name, Android Open Source Project lol.
In short: Android is open source, but the actual software you get with the phone is not.