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An Android Tablet Victory May Be Problematic For Free Software

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-the-same-and-yet-all-different dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Glyn Moody writes at The H that Google's Nexus 7 tablet seems to be in a good position to shake up the market and pave the way for serious Android competition to the iPad. That said, he's worried about the potential downsides to a market full of mostly 'open' devices: 'Such customised systems are likely to be as locked down as they can be – the last thing either manufacturers or companies want is for users to start fiddling with the settings or installing their own software. As a result, the apps that run on such systems are likely to be closed source, since that's the way vertical markets tend to work. Such systems will also expose a persistent problem with the open source development methodology. While big and general projects find it relatively easy to attract interested developers, smaller, more targeted solutions tend not to thrive as free software.'"

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Google itself is problematic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Looking at the version history for android (and a few other sources), they contradict you.

    I couldn't be bothered to go back before eclair but I'm pretty sure it follows a similar pattern:
    Eclair - Release date: October 26, 2009. Source code release date: Nov 16th 2009 (source)
    Froyo - Release date: May 20, 2010. Source code release date: Jun 23rd 2010 (source)
    Ice Cream Sandwich - Release date: October 19, 2011. Source code release date: November 14, 2011
    Jelly Bean - Release Date: not available on a shipping device yet. Source code release date: July 9, 2012

    Now I know they didn't release Honeycomb in a timely fashion but gave reasons in advance for that. As that code forms part of the version history for Ice Cream Sandwhich you still have it available to you. However, I don't think you can say that they are particularly slow in releasing their code. And let's look at the definite positive here: they are releasing the source code!.

  2. Re:Google itself is problematic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Kommander Liz, first posting on Wednesday July 11, @05:08PM. Three anti-Google posts since then.

    Prognosis: yet another Buston Marsteller shill from the same stable that brought you Bonch, Sharklaser Tech* etc etc.