back to article Google silences Android critics

Last month, on the official Android discussion group, David "Lefty" Schlesinger posted a message that questioned the open sourciness of Google's fledgling mobile platform. And he was promptly muzzled by Google developer advocate Dan Morrill. "Now I'm moderated," says Lefty, an open source guru with Access, the Japan-based …

COMMENTS

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  1. Karl Lattimer

    lefty, the man the legend!

    http://www.qdh.org.uk/wordpress/?p=225

    read more here, I had the story before you ner ner ner ner ner....

    :p

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Wait and see...

    I think people who bitch about the platform not being openned yet really should STFU, why?

    simply this, priority must be given to getting the plaform adopted by as many major mobile industry players as possible - without their support there will be NO Androd - So Google needs to engage with them first and foremost to ensure the system meets their expectaction before everybody else starts bundling in.

    Opening the project too early will simply cause distraction and delays, which will likely lead to several major participants walking away from the project... which would be very unfortunate!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OpenMoko the one

    that's the platform most are holding out for.

    If google offer decent APIs great, they will be incorporated, and if the APIs are language neutral better still.

    Most APIs will involve a datatream or an RPC, so language should not be an issue here, unless Google make it one.

    Personally, I want a completely open phone, that can be tuned for a variety of purposes, and which has generic ports.

    Python will be the language I would tend to use, and many will just jump into to fill the Python modules for connectivity, if Google don't. The Python community far outstrips the Java community when it comes to generating interoperability.

    OpenMoko and the Android platform will hopefully complement each other.

  4. Graham Lockley

    Nah

    >Personally, I want a completely open phone, that can be tuned for a variety of purposes, and which has generic ports.

    I (and I suspect the bulk of Joe Publc) want one that makes/recieves calls and looks pretty.

    JesusPhone anyone ?

    OpenMoko is great idea and little else, the chances of it being adopted by any major phone manufacturer is practicly nil.

  5. auser

    The google version of java...

    As long as they don't open up their java engine to the public it will be a closed platform. The rest of the closed code doesn't really matter since it's mostly just bytecode running on their virtual machine, but not opening up their vm means only the selected few hardware manufacturers can port it to their own handsets. This locks out open source communities and smaller companies who would choose android if they could get it to run on their own hardware. Without an open vm, this project could go the way of sony's closed source virtual machine which slowly got replaced by a standard java stack even in their own phones, because nobody supported it, despite having gcc as it's compiler and having open apis. Google should say it's an open platform running on a closed system (like windows) or open it up for everyone.

  6. chaosvoyager
    Coat

    When Google burns bridges, they use orbital lazers!

    Hmm, it also seems that Google is only releasing the new Android SDKs to the 50 ADC winners because those SDKs are 'buggy' and it wouldn't be fair to the winners if they released them to the general public. So not only is the source not open, the executables and tools are now 'closed' as well.

    What a load of muffintops.

    http://helloandroid.com/node/572

    http://androidguys.com/2008/05/20/adc-semi-finalists-getting-bleeding-edge-sdk-first

    http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thread/thread/52e75664c5565980#

    (ICON green guy measuring a shirt because, well, does like AYONE ever use that icon? It looked lonely)

  7. Rob McDougall
    Black Helicopters

    call me paranoid but...

    just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

    google can just "silence" this "dissident"? so if you say anything they don't like, you suddenly lose your freedom of speech on their message boards?

    great. sounds a bit chinese to me...

    oh, and this message has just been moderated as well (successfully, I might add - if you're reading it)

  8. Andy Hards
    Coat

    @Chaosvoyager

    I guess my name must by AYONE cos it's not a guy measuring a coat it's a bloke getting his coat after making a shit joke that no-one laughs at. It's called the 'I'll get me coat' icon.

    Chaosvoyager, do you like have a replica sword on your wall at home and drink snakebite and black?

  9. chaosvoyager

    (@Andy Hards) Press Button, Receive Bacon

    So is that what that icon represents? Interesting. And I thought Clarus was confusing.

    Hmm, and I don't have a replica sword on my wall, nor do I even know what snakebite and black is, let alone drink it. Should I?

    *sigh*, I really do need to keep up with all this political, pop culture, and sports trivia better. It seems it's the only thing people comment on.

    As for Android, did I mention the NDA ADC winners had to sign? Did I? Maybe I couldn't have :P Naa, I just forgot. What this means is that even discussing Android development and where the platform is actually headed is now 'closed' as well. Sure, you could still discuss the old buggy SKDs, but why?

    It's one thing to keep a project's source closed until it's consistent enough to open for general development (in fact, I think it's required), it's quite another to do what Google has done.

  10. Seán

    fucking muffintops?

    Hopefully Android will work unlike the vast majority of googles big talk stuff which remains shitty and unused.

  11. Mark
    Gates Horns

    Perhaps Lefty..

    should spend less time focusing on what others are doing, and more time working on his projects. Have you seen the state of NetFront browser? It sucks BADLY...

  12. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "certain Google-specific services" will remain closed

    Yep, as in everything that is actually useful. The skin will be completely configurable, though ! And you'll even be able to invent your own buttons !

  13. Dave Howe
    Linux

    open source licencing

    I am obviously confused about something here.

    If something is open source, then anyone receiving a binary copy *must* be given access to the source and a free licence to modify, redistribute and use custom compilations of that source.

    As far as I know, google hasn't released Android to anyone in any form, not binary *or* source. So until someone can show a binary-only copy of Android and be refused or granted access to download the source, there is no way to make any real statement one way or the other... only a legitimate user of Android has the right to ask.

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