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Huawei Says It Has a Backup OS In Case It's Cut Off From Android (engadget.com)
Huawei has built its own operating system for phones, tablets and computers in case tensions between Huawei and the U.S. escalate even further than they already are. "The OS has been rumored for years, but Huawei confirmed its viability with the South China Morning Post, saying it could be used if the company were cut off from Android or Windows," reports Engadget. "It's seen as a last resort, but given the current discord between the U.S. and Huawei, it's not entirely surprising that the company has a plan B." From the report: Huawei began building the OS in 2012, after the U.S. banned Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE from using American products and services. This was reportedly seen as a way to prepare for "worst-case scenarios." Now, with Huawei suing the U.S. government and the U.S. saying it might punish Germany if the country works with Huawei on its 5G networks, those worst-case scenarios might not be too far-fetched. At the moment, this doesn't change much. Android and Windows are still the company's first-choice. "We fully support our partners' operating systems -- we love them and our customers love them," a company spokesperson told South China Morning Post. Still, given the state of the U.S.-Huawei relationship, this contingency plan could be significant.
Probably a copy of Android.....
Great news for Huawei lovers
Since Google is blocked in China all Chinese Android users already have their own alternative versions, e.g. their own app stores and search services to replace the missing ones. Huawei is no exception so all they need to do is have a plan to continue core OS development on their own, rather than starting from scratch.
That would make sense, given that Android is open source and there are lots of apps for it.
A few western companies have already done the same thing, e.g. with compatibility layers for running Android apps on other operating systems.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
It might be Tizen OS.
The base OS itself, i.e. AOSP, is licensed under a permissive license (Apache 2.0)
Huawei (just like anybody else - e.g. Amazon's Fire and free/libre projects like LineageOS, also compatibility layers like Andbox) can freely copy Android all they like and nobody is every going to tell them anything.
The problem isn't the base OS. It's the giant blob for service that Google only provides to licensed partner: the Google Play Services.
That one might be required by some apps: that includes some mapping apps relying on the Google Maps Service (e.g.: some car sharing applications) and that include Google Play Store it-self.
A chinese manufacturer can slap android on their phone, but the users won't have access to the usual Play Store and won't be able to install some application. That's why they usually provide teir own eco-system of apps. (Just like Amazon had their own application store).
Even more so because Google is banned in China anyway.
If you WANT to install those apps, you'd need to:
- Pirate the google service (lots of cheap chinese phone manufacturer to that).
- Install google services legally (as an end user, you can ask for a free license under some circumstance)
( ^- You know, Google would be happy at the opportunity to siphon your data anyway, so they are not against the idea of end-users installing it after-market. They are only against manufacturer not providing the exact "Google Experience" that they want - i.e.: try to get users hooked on Google Apps).
- Install an open-source re-implementation of these services such as MicroG
( ^- And these one are much more configurable and can leak a lot less personnal data than the real google deal. Your smartphone's battery will appreciate not needing to ping back the mother ship every 30 seconds).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
" Now, with Huawei suing the U.S. government and the U.S. saying it might punish Germany if the country works with Huawei on its 5G networks, those worst-case scenarios might not be too far-fetched." Punish away, but retaliation will come from 27 countries.
Probably a copy of Android.....
In the FOSS community it's called forking, it's done all the time and there is nothing wrong with it. In fact Android uses the Linux kernel under the hood so in that sense the Android core systems themselves are a fork (a.k.a. 'copy') of Linux.
I was also hoping for some variation of GNU/Linux.
Either TizenOS as you mention.
Or something Mer project based (descendant of Meamo/Meego, currently used as a base in Jolla's SailfishOS (*)).
Or something else running on the libhybris (what Jolla developped to run *GNU*/Linux on Android Linux kernels and blob drivers) like UB Ports' Ubuntu Touch.
Or writing GNU/Linux compatible drivers from the ground up and "licensing" (well it's GPL so it's free) Purism' OS of the Librem 5 smartphone.
Or one of the lighter solution like Firefox OS / Boot-to-Gecko / KaiOS (or whatever it is called now) though I doubt it because currently KaiOS seems to be targeting feature phones.
etc.
Granted, the actual product from Huawei is going to have an ugly interface customization (and probably filled to the brim with their own spywares instead of Google's), but that means more cheap platforms were it is easy to get a GNU/Linux os running (i.e.: that are less targetted toward pure Android-only)
---
(*): A local customisation of Jolla's Sailfish OS is also an entirely realistic possibility. Jolla Oy. has courted a lot of B2B and B2G contracts (including in Russia where they are providing OS for some large scale enterprise solution) so Huawei might have licensed something from them.
They also since recently have their own in-house developped Android compatibility layer (they licensed and took over some of the necessary bits from Myriad's Alien-Dalvik) that now runs in containers and can host AOSP 8.0/8.1 Oreo, so at least an out-of-the-box solution for the apps that don't desperately rely on Google Play Service blobs.
(And compatible with 3rd-party microG and after-market opengapps, so even possibilities to get Google-dependant app running if you're ready to muck with your phone)
This means that they won't be 100% cut of from the dominat app eco-system and can still remain relevant until whatever they have takes off as a viable app platform.
Purism was also reported to think about porting Andbox among their stretch goals for achieving similar goals.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
For the Chinese market do you really need anything being AOSP, a skin that tries to look like iOS; and WeChat support? Maybe an in-app payment system for pay to win mobile games?
US worked on the Sino-Soviet split https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
China was rewarded with US investment and advanced tech.
Taiwan the real China no longer had as much US support.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
The us and UK are bad, no doubt about it. But neither is anywhere close to the dystopian state that China is. Most of the idiots bringing up western problems when discussing China are either paid Chinese propaganda spreaders or people who have never been to China and have no idea how bad it is.
I was there for only a week, and even I could sense the level of dystopia there. Cameras everywhere, ID required for almost everything (buying train tickets, SIM card, Hotel, etc. ) and of course the censorship online and in the media. Signs everywhere talking about how China has rule of law and democracy. And just the general ignorance of the population, I speak Chinese and never once did I hear anyone discussing anything of importance. All they talked about was personal lives and celebrities. I know politics is forbidden, but I never heard any discussion of science, technology, society, theories of any sort, or even talking about things they learned (other than school children cramming for exams).
In summary, China really is as bad as it's made out to be in the media in the west, and arguably worse. If they become the world power and push their society on the rest of us, humanity is doomed.
Capitalist enterprises from the West invested in China, and were welcomed there by Mr. Deng Xiaoping and his followers.
If I was an authoritarian regime looking for a cover story to replace everyones software on their device with something I could control in greatee detail, this would be a good one. In fact why not just roll that social media credit system into the payment apps as well. Surcharges for lower social credit scores, etc. Best of all we made it look like someone elses fault so our people flock to this change.
No, Palm OS.
OS is not the problem.
Developers with apps to make the device functional is the problem.
Rock and a hard place really...... so seems like fluff and nonsense from Huawei really.
I think they call it Hema-roid.
We've been working so hard on our own OS! It's Android, but with a skin and without a few apps!
A new Linux OS is out! It's Ubuntu, with a different terminal emulator!
We wrote 10,000 lines of code, added it to the existing 15 million lines of code, and now we have something new! We're relevant and important!
In reality, this just makes them on par with a precocious 8th grader.
Probably a copy of Android.....
Anyone and his dog are allowed to copy the base Android OS --- as Android is a fork of Linux anyway.
Android is *not* a fork of Linux. Android is effectively its own OS. It is merely hosted on Linux. The vast majority of Android devs and nearly all Android users see nothing of Linux, no more than someone using some other appliance that has a Linux kernel in the background.
Huawei Says It Has a Backup OS In Case It's Cut Off From Android
More likely in case Google actually stops developing the censorship / monitoring versions of their software for China.
"...Chinese are quietly snipping transcontinental fiber optic cables ..."
Citation?
Call it replican,
That would be confused with the Replicant open-source no-proprietary-blobs android project.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I'm wondering whether we will eventually get a trustworthy western corporation with their own version of Android that doesn't snoop so much. I have an old Android phone that my kid uses and that thing lasts almost a week on a single charge of the 1800 mAh battery.
If you specifically require *Android* :
- using the opensource LineageOS
- and using either F-Droid (specifically for opensource software) or/and Aptoide (multiple 3rd party repositories) to obtain 3rd party apps.
- and optionnally installing MicroG as an alternative implementation if any of your must-have apps requires a library that is normally provided by Google (And optionnally
(- and optionnally Yalp store if you desperately need apps from Play store).
this are the ways to proceed to obtain an Android that doesn't snoop too much.
If you aren't married to Android specifically:
- look at the upcoming Librem 5 by Purism. It's exactly designed with the intent of "a phone that doesn't snoop too much on the kids", being built from the ground up for that (with physical kill-switched to block the separate USB-connected modem, etc.)
- or, if you want something that you can install today, look at Sailfish OS, a full blown GNU/Linux by the guys who used to work on Maemo/Meego at Nokia (before the whole Elop+Microsoft fiasco), which is installable on select few devices (Jolla sells licensed version to install on a couple of Sony devices. In the forum you can find community made opensource version for other phone)
( ^- I use that, on Sony Xperia smartphones)
- or check Ubuntu Touch, nowadays handled by UBPort now that Cannonical has dropped the ball.
Note that is you have a couple of android apps that you need, the commercial version of Sailfish offers an app compatibility layer (and refer to MicroG above and in the forum if your apps insist on Google libraries).
and Purism is considering making an app compatibility layer too (again, use MicroG for apps that require Google libraries).
For *maps* specifically, check out "OSM Scout Server" (installing your own local open-street map server on your phone) and "Pure Maps" (a nice non-google map application that can optionnally fetch maps from OSM Scout Server).
The devs are currently making Sailfish OS version, and they plan to release Librem versions too once that phone hits the market.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Sepcifically for the maps on android, OSMAnd is an openstreetmap-powered solution that can also run offline.
For the rest of the de-googled smartphone see my other post above, with both solutions for no-google-apps phone and completely no-android phones.
(I personnally do the latter, running Sailfish OS on Sony Xperia)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]