[ILUG] Android gone Free

[Michael Watterson]

Colm Buckley wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 8:23 AM, Michael Watterson <watty at eircom.net 
> <mailto:watty at eircom.net>> wrote:
>  
>
>     It is all about having a CLOSED platform, a google alternative to
>     Java. Android is only incidentally Linux. It could be WinMo,
>     Symbian etc.. the important bit got Google and what the apps run
>     on is the custom Google version of Java.
>
>
> The *open* custom Google version of Java.  Running on the *open* 
> custom Google version of Linux.  I'm not sure you really know what 
> you're talking about here.
>  
>
>     If you want an Open phone build your own or buy OpenMoko. A
>     Symbian phone is more open than Android.
>
>
> On what basis do you claim this?
>
> Colm
>
> -- 
> Colm Buckley / colm at tuatha.org <mailto:colm at tuatha.org> / +353 87 2469146
Android you are not supposed to install Native Apps. Think Archos 5 or 
605WiFi. Lovely Linux Gadget only runs user apps in Flash,  Java, Opera 
Widgets or Web Client generally. No user supplied native Apps.

Symbian you can write and install a  native  App.  No Java needed. 
Symbain is even going open.  The Source of Archos and T-Mobile 
G1/Android is Linux based and open. You can't install native apps or 
your own version of Linux on the Hardware supplied with either.

A Mac or Windows PC is a more open Plaform than an Android Phone. Don't 
be fooled by the fact the Android version of Linux and the Google 
Android version of Java is open. This is not about an Open Platform. 
Having Open Source Android is less useful as having the Source for the 
SW of a Brother Sewing machine.

Unless you want to write Google Android flavour Java apps for the Google 
Store or an Android phone you buy, forget about Android. It's really no 
different to concept of Archos gadgets (Linux) or iPhone (OS-X). It's 
about Google Control.

I've built real open source Linux gadgets and worked with 3rd party ones 
such as GP2X or Sharp Zaurus. Iv'e done my own HW with my own custom OS 
too. I can see no value to Android except to Google and some Phone 
carriers. It's no step forward for Linux or Open Source or DIY phones 
like Trolltech Greenphone or OpenMoko was.
If you want to fiddle with interesting HW and Linux this rather than 
Android is a better starting point:
http://openpandora.org/worldmap.html

Not a phone (though it's possible to add a USB 3G Modem and do VOIP).

If you want to write native apps on an Open Source OS, for real 
commercial phones, currently Symbian is the closest you can get.

Writing native apps and installing for WinMobile AKA is technically 
possible but harder, it's a more broken OS (derived from Sega 
Dreamcast/WinCE, not Win NT/Win 9X family) and I doubt it will ever be open.

iPhone you can write Native Apps, but Apple has to approve and  it  will 
never  be  open  despite it is  BSD  based.
 
Android is a Closed "Java" type platform that happens to have the OS and 
version of JVM / Java Stack Open Source. It's not a platform for native 
Linux Apps.





-- 
Mike