Google’s Android, the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, started life as open-source software. In its quest for ever-greater profits, the tech giant has been gradually eroding Android’s open-source capacity over the last decade.

Google’s Android, the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, started life as open-source software. In its quest for ever-greater profits, the tech giant has been gradually eroding Android’s open-source nature over the last decade.

Originally published on The Lever, but that one asks you to sign up.

  • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    All phones that are sold in the EU now have to have 5 years of updates after the phone is no longer sold.

    Basically, all phones have 6+ years of updates now.

    • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
      110·
      2 days ago

      You realize there’s a whole rest of the world that’s not the EU?

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        91·
        2 days ago

        Oh my fucking god, really?!

        You’re so smart, that never occurred to me. I thought that there was only 27 countries in the world, and all of them were in one continent!

        Yes, I do realise that, genius. I’m not from an EU country myself.

        However, I engaged my brain cells and quickly realised that most phones that exist are sold in the EU, and therefore the OEM has to make and test these updates anyway. In virtually all cases they will then release these worldwide.

        Like how the EU mandated USB-C and now it’s worldwide. The EU has quietly become the market that sets international standards over the past 20 years.

        I know it seems like I’m being mean in this comment, but fuck me it’s the most Reddit comment ever. A pointless comment just begging to start a pointless argument. Nobody can be bothered with that trolling shit. Do better.

        • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
          16·
          2 days ago

          the OEM has to make and test these updates anyway. In virtually all cases they will then release these worldwide

          I wouldn’t be so sure. There’s a vested interest in NOT shipping them outside the EU. It’s called planned obsolescence. Just looks at Macs and OCLP. It’s so easy to keep older Macs updated that it’s actually able to be done by some random developers in their free time (not to trivialize this effort, just to say that it would be extremely trivial for Apple as the developer of the OS and one of the most profitable companies in the world to do it). And yet Apple does not ship these updates to them. Why? Because they want you to buy new shit and they know not doing so will render them virtually useless in a short time.

          I know it seems like I’m being mean in this comment

          You are just being mean and extremely rude. It’s completely unnecessary and I’ve done absolutely nothing to deserve such language. You are actively making this community shittier.

          • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            41·
            1 day ago

            Be rude, someone is rude to you back. Boo hoo.

            Trying to bait people into absolutely pointless arguments makes the community shittier.

            • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
              14·
              1 day ago

              I wasn’t being rude. That was only you. And since you continue to do so, you can have this argument with yourself. Goodbye.