Dan wrote:
On Mon, 11 Oct 2010, Chris G wrote:
Does anyone hare have an Android based phone and use it with Linux on their desktop?
Since we're on the subject, I've been thinking of getting a smartphone, and am confused in a number of ways...
- The "license model" entries on Wikipedia suggest that Android is closer to being a pure open-source operating system than Maemo; mailing list chatter, on the other hand, suggests it's the other way round. Anyone know which it is, please?
Here is my take on it: http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/fsuk-manchester/2009-11/msg00042.html
I think part of the confusion comes from the implications of permissive free software licensing. And this shows why copyleft licensing is preferable so that every user has the freedom: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/
If one buys an Android handset outright, rather than getting it with a 'phone service contract, would one normally get root privileges as standard, or does the handset still need "rooting"?
The rooting process seems to consist basically of inserting a third-party "ROM" into the handset's bootloader. The usual case appears to be that the ROM takes the form of a pre-compiled binary. The idea of getting more complete control over my hardware by putting a precompiled third-party binary in the bootloader seems counter-intuitive. Do third-party ROM producers disclose their source code?