Owen Densmore wrote at 02/18/2013 02:15 PM: > Can you share the details of upgrading android without help from Google? > .. could most customers do this?
Yes, I think so. But you can't be afraid of breaking the phone. So, there's a distinction between _could_ and _would_. The hacking distance between my D2G and the Gnex is huge. I really had to work hard to get the D2G into a place where I was comfortable with it, including writing a script to set the firewall rules, manually replacing the super user and USB apps, etc. But Motorola is unfriendly. Samsung, by contrast, is friendly. Rooting the phone is easy with the right phone from a friendly manufacturer. Once rooted, install ROM Manager or ROM Toolbox, a little clicky-pokey, and you've installed a new ROM (e.g. Cyanogenmod or AOKP). If you do it that way, then you can get an update any time that ROM is updated. These lag behind the source release, of course. The biggest problem is _fear_. The ROM makers pepper their sites with disclaimers ... it's not their fault if you break your phone. But if you're wealthy enough to buy one of these damned things, then you're wealthy enough to buy another one after you break the first one. If you can't buy at least 2 of them, don't bother buying one of them. Stay in the hell created by the corporations that rule our world. It's difficult to be any more concrete than the above generalities unless you choose a particular device. The cyanogenmod website has a nice list of devices, rooting instructions, etc. E.g. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Tilapia_Info > And I could be wrong. When I bought my last phone, I asked around > about, for example, Samsung and how well they handle updates. IIRC the > answer was "what updates"? I.e. there were none. I could be completely > wrong or simply have asked the wrong folks. But I do recall being told > that Cyanogenmod is your friend. All the ROM makers update their releases at different rates. > That's been my observation: Apple == draconian, Google == Open but > amateur. I wouldn't say "amateur", I'd say "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools." > Doug's learning a lot .. mainly how to swear! I don't read Doug's web log because I don't follow undescribed links in e-mail messages. ;-) I ass/u/me most of what's there is the result of hysteresis. > Perhaps shortly when I get my next new GSM phone, I'll stop being timid > and just jump into android. But only if I can upgrade easily. Wish the > battery life were a tad better. And I do have an app or two that I'm > addicted to that is not available on android .. one of which the maker > said "never!". My advice is to buy an old, used phone and subscribe to something like Cricket or Simple Mobile ... or just use the wifi. I sold my D2G for $60. I would have given it to you for free if you'd asked for it. (Don't buy a D2G, though. If you want a droid 2, buy the straight CDMA one without the GSM sim card slot.) Play around with it for a month or two and if it doesn't pique you, forget it and stick with what you know. -- glen e. p. ropella, 971-255-2847, http://tempusdictum.com ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
