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It matters more than you think. No one expected Google to open source all their apps. Android has plenty of open source apps.

zepto 6y ago
How does it matter?
- chromedev 6y ago
  Because they literally have an open source operating system that is being used by a multitude of phone manufacturers, kiosks, home security systems, developers, hobbyists, security experts, Amazon Kindle, etc without any licensing fees which can be audited by anyone.
  - zepto 6y ago
    This is simply false. There is not a multitude of phone manufacturers using an open source operating system. The Android that phone manufacturers use is largely closed source, and only part of it is open source. This has been irrefutably documented elsewhere in this thread. This thread is about phones. The fact that you can use the open source components of Android to build a home security system, but not a phone, just proves the point, that Android as a phone operating system, as most people consider it to be, is not open source.
    - chromedev 6y ago
      The operating system is open source. You are trying to say Google apps and services are part of the operating system, but they aren't. I take it you've never installed a custom Android ROM before, who frequently don't package gapps? Are you suggesting that before you have an operating system, you have to install the gapps APK?
      - zepto 6y ago
        Certainly some of the apps and especially services are considered part of the operating system by most people. You only have to look elsewhere in this thread to see all of the features which have been moved out of AOSP into Google Play Services to see this proved.
        chromedev 6y ago
        So you're suggesting that without Google specific proprietary apps and services that Android doesn't boot up and the phone can't be used with third-party apps?
        zepto 6y ago
        Third party apps won’t work if they rely on Google play services as many do. Whether it boots or not is irrelevant if it doesn’t do what people expect a smartphone OS to do.

zepto 6y ago

How does it matter?

chromedev 6y ago
Because they literally have an open source operating system that is being used by a multitude of phone manufacturers, kiosks, home security systems, developers, hobbyists, security experts, Amazon Kindle, etc without any licensing fees which can be audited by anyone.
- zepto 6y ago
  This is simply false. There is not a multitude of phone manufacturers using an open source operating system. The Android that phone manufacturers use is largely closed source, and only part of it is open source. This has been irrefutably documented elsewhere in this thread. This thread is about phones. The fact that you can use the open source components of Android to build a home security system, but not a phone, just proves the point, that Android as a phone operating system, as most people consider it to be, is not open source.
  - chromedev 6y ago
    The operating system is open source. You are trying to say Google apps and services are part of the operating system, but they aren't. I take it you've never installed a custom Android ROM before, who frequently don't package gapps? Are you suggesting that before you have an operating system, you have to install the gapps APK?
    - zepto 6y ago
      Certainly some of the apps and especially services are considered part of the operating system by most people. You only have to look elsewhere in this thread to see all of the features which have been moved out of AOSP into Google Play Services to see this proved.
      - chromedev 6y ago
        So you're suggesting that without Google specific proprietary apps and services that Android doesn't boot up and the phone can't be used with third-party apps?
        zepto 6y ago
        Third party apps won’t work if they rely on Google play services as many do. Whether it boots or not is irrelevant if it doesn’t do what people expect a smartphone OS to do.