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Android 17 is the first since 3.x to add new APIs without releasing to the AOSP

1180 points · 723 comments · theanonymousone

  1. wps · · focus · HN ↗
    The amount of roadblocks Google is putting up for GrapheneOS is just ridiculous. None of their decisions make any sense, from the delayed source patches upstream, to the embargos, attestation issues, etc. Google simply regrets android being open source.
    1. godelski · · focus · HN ↗
      I hope people remember this when advocating for chromium. Just because it is open source doesn't mean they don't control it. We need to start the long process of hard forking now or turn to alternatives like Firefox as a new foundation.

        > Google simply regrets android being open source.
      Android wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't open source. With all the work from outside Google. The same is true chrome.

      But they won't learn that on their own. They are breaking the deals. So we move. We force their hand

      1. StilesCrisis · · focus · HN ↗
        Hard forking doesn't solve the problem of closed source.

        If the goal of a hard fork is "the community will invest equal resources that Google does today" then you wildly underestimate how many engineers work on Chrome.

        1. ocdtrekkie · · focus · HN ↗
          The bigger problem is wasting developer effort contributing to Google's platform. The real secret behind Android being "open" (sorta) is that while almost nobody runs AOSP, Google has tricked a bunch of fools into working on Android forks instead of building a real competitor.

          Playing at their table is a losing game, the house always wins.

          1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
            Windows only isn't still 90% market share because of Wine, then Proton.
            1. ocdtrekkie · · focus · HN ↗
              Neither Wine nor Proton run on Windows. Building Android emulators for Linux: Worth your time. Building Android knockoffs which claim to remove the Google from Google's operating system? Foolishness.
              1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
                Reimplementing Windows was a huge task. If the windows source code was available, why wouldn't you begin with a copy-paste?
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