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Wait, wait, wait. Android has realized the dream of fully open hardware and software? This is the same Android that comes with a bunch of closed-source stuff [1], stores your data on servers which are not yours, and runs primarily on proprietary handsets?

I'm happy for the success of Android and it represents a significant step towards openness in both the mobile phone space and the personal computer space, but this is certainly not the end of the war, nor is it the beginning of the end. Perhaps it is the end of the beginning.

[1] - http://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2008/fall/mobile




yes it is. if you don't like the closed-source apps, you can run your own pure replacements.


Obviously, and if I don't like Windows, I can install a BSD or anything from http://gnu.org/ and run a fully free computer (or Kolibri or Haiku). That is relevant to the success of the open-source movement on the desktop, but it's not the end-game.


that's a bogus comparison: if you replace windows with BSD you aren't running windows anymore. if you replace google's maps app with one from openstreetmaps you are still running android.


That isn't the point, though: the point is that people are using closed-source software by default.




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