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Are Third-Party Android Vendors Violating the GPL?
jfruhlinger writes "Google's refusal to not release Honeycomb source code is kosher because the code in question is released under the Apache license. But the kernel at the heart of Android is GPL'd, which means that code must be released. Google has actually been a good citizen in this regard — but many third-party Android vendors, not so much. While Asus has released their code, there are a host of companies that seem to have not done so, and Matthew Garrett is maintaining a list."
Seriously. Every day there is story about some new Android problems. Malware, GPL violations, rooted phones being blocked, Google not releasing the source code for new versions, people pirating apps so developing apps is useless, hardware fragmentation, phones saving location data and leaking all of your stuff to Google. Seriously just do a search for "android" on slashdot. Every freaking day something.
Last winter I was seriously considering getting an Android phone. I was thinking between iPhone and Android. I liked the openness of Android. But then the problems started showing up. Now I wouldn't touch it anymore. And having lived around the world and seeing lots of poverty too, I don't think the underlying system license and GPL really is top priority for lots of people. They just want something that works, they don't have time worry about those times. And now that I've grown too and have to support my family, frankly I dont either. Maybe as a teen, but not anymore.
I like Android but all this GPL nonsense shows how dangerous using Linux or other 'free' software can be.
That's why I prefer closed source software. Nobody need an army of anti-social nerds attacking them for using the operating system they promote.
If you don't want people to use Linux just say so. Don't encourage Linux use and then attack companies for daring to keep their intellectual property private.
I've never heard someone complain that source code wasn't released for Windows software.