I read the onlamp.com article about android, and there are a few issues where I'm thinking "wow, they are getting this right!" and "but what is openmoko doing in this area?". namely:
security: I read android will confine each application by both using java sandbox security, but also by having an extra user for each application so that application is confined to it's home dir, memory, process space etc. and cannot interfere with other applications. openmoko so far does run everything as root? I would like to use my moko as a security device where I store rsa keys, do all the crypto (never reveal the raw rsa keys) etc. and this will require very high level of security - including protecting my high security app from all other application (e.g. games). are there any plans in this direction? packaging and distribution: I read android sdk will compile applications into "dex" files which can be used to distribute it and install the app on the phone. for openmoko I only know about the huge build tree, bitbake and ipkg files and interim steps. I'm no ipkg expert but know deb quite well and I think - might be wrong - the concepts are similar. extracting any files as root and putting them somewhere on the file system gives me a big shivers. if on the other hand a file can be downloaded, checked (maybe signatures or something), and the unpacking process guarantees it will end in a special directory, be confined in there, no chance it can change anything anywhere else, access other apps. files and (also quite important) cannot contain e.g. suid binaries, no apps that will be in path and all that - this would be very nice from security and packaging and distribution point of view. ipkg is fine for the managing the core system, but what about addons that want to be placed on web pages and downloaded, installed and started with a single (or very few) clicks? what about compatibility? openmoko grows to support more and more phones. in the end I will have to compile or at least package my app for each phone again? or can I create one package that will work everywhere, even if the devices have different capabilities (e.g. screen size)? itmight be too early to tell, but keeping an eye on such issues would be very reassuring. don't get me wrong, I'm not an android fan, lots of stuff in their announcement makes me turn away (like promoting not sharing drivers developed by manufacturers - that sounds to me they break the GPLv2 license of the linux kernel used). or the whole concept looks to me like it optimized for everyone doing their own stuff, i.e. the opposite of working together towards a common goal. but some of the ideas look like what I was hoping for openmoko in the long term, so maybe this is a good time to say "see, they do it that way, maybe we can do the same?" what do you think? thanks for your advice. Regards, Andreas _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
