On Sun, 2011-02-20 at 11:57 -0500, Dan Trevino wrote: > I must have missed the part where google was fighting the custom > firmwares. The only complaint I've seen was in the redistribution of > Google's non-free apps, but they worked that out amicably a long time > ago.
Yes, but did cause an interruption in the project for a period of time. It wasn't a good way to start out IMHO. Google should have made that stuff FOSS as part of their FOSS OS/platform. Then such problems would never exist, much less others efforts to make FOSS versions. > I dont disagree that Google wants you to use their services. Clearly > that the whole reason for the platform. To an extent the platform is there to help support AdWords first, and then Google Checkout second... > But I think you're wrongly attributing where the difficulty lies in > making changes. I also think you're overstating the difficulty. > Hell, they have how-to's on Lifehacker.... Do any require rooting your phone? The avg consumer is not going to feel comfortable doing such. I know some that for hot spot/wireless tethering went ahead and paid the fee vs go with something like Cyanogenmod. If you can make the changes out of the box thats one thing. > My Google Nexus One has a > hardware search button, which, by default, starts a google search. > But with my custom firmware, There is the problem right there, you have to have custom firmware first. > I can navigate to Settings, Cyanogenmod > Settings, Input, Search key app, and change the default app to Bing or > Yahoo or whatever. But then how do you remove the Google search stuff? :) > That Google Search integrates with Google's Browser by default is lock > in only in the mildest sense. Also integrates with just about every other aspect of the OS/platform. Though it likely invokes the default search, which if changed like above, would be the one you chose. I am not going ot go searching using anyone but Google, just using that as an example. > You can easily install firefox4 or > dolphin or any number of browsers and make them the default for all > browers actions. Opera and Microsoft and Yahoo could all make their > own search apps integrate with their own browsers and their own map > application and you'd have all of that integrated on Android. And > Verizon or AT&T or T-Mo or **You** could choose which ever > search/map/browser vendor you wanted. Sure you can install more software, but can you remove the other stuff your not using? :) > Not having those options is not a lack of freedom of the Android > platform, but of the vendors of your phone/phone firmware. No I hardly think it was any wireless carrier that made it so you can't remove Gmail, Gtalk, and other things like that. Granted they have their other apps, but soon as you put custom firmware on there, those are gone, unless backed up, and restored over the custom firmware. > Samsung apparently takes it a step further and tries their best to > prevent custom firmware installs, but thats a completely separate > topic because that is hardware vendors trying to lock their phones > down, and has nothing to do with Google or Android. Yes another thing that makes me cautious about getting a new device, surely not one just released. I want it to be well hacked by the time I got to waste time there. Just want to follow some instructions, do a tried and true method, and hopefully have no problems. Which has been my experience thus far :) (knocking on wood...) -- William L. Thomson Jr. Obsidian-Studios, Inc. http://www.obsidian-studios.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml Unsubscribe [email protected]
