- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show
- pimeys ( @pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io ) 175•11 months ago
Nice! And they will probably differentiate from the competition by allowing GPL applications and sideloading, and having a total control for your privacy and no tracking, right?
Right?
- Jagermo ( @Jagermo@feddit.de ) 48•11 months ago
In the beginning? Sure. Later? Well, you know, security and all, think of the kids!
- Diplomjodler ( @Diplomjodler@feddit.de ) 12•11 months ago
Check out these great special offers in GPL applications and sideloading!
- helenslunch ( @helenslunch@feddit.nl ) 4•11 months ago
Probably will just be more like their own flavor of Android where they lock down the OS and insert all kinds of malware.
- YⓄ乙 ( @yoz@aussie.zone ) English2•11 months ago
Lol
- makingStuffForFun ( @makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml ) 76•11 months ago
They want to harvest the data, without Google’s control, and give none to Google.
- Laser ( @Laser@feddit.de ) 18•11 months ago
That can be easily done with AOSP, to my knowledge there’s no Google stuff in there. Which is exactly what they’re using right now
- mathemachristian[he] ( @mathemachristian@lemm.ee ) 16•11 months ago
There still is some google stuff in there, like for example phoning google servers to check internet connectivity among other stuff.
- rentar42 ( @rentar42@kbin.social ) 21•11 months ago
Yes, but those minor traces are easy enough to remove, especially if you don’t care about being “ceritified” by Google (i.e. are not planning to run the Google services).
- mathemachristian[he] ( @mathemachristian@lemm.ee ) 2•11 months ago
Right but the topic was about google’s data harvesting and what I meant was that you can’t just grab any AOSP distribution if you want to minimize that, you need to pick one that replaces the parts that send data to google. LineageOS for example still phones google for quite a number of services.
As far as “easy to remove” goes, I think that’s kind of debatable if you want to do it in a way that’s sustainable long term considering the effort that goes into e.g. GrapheneOS or DivestOS.
Edit: here is a list of the kind of stuff you need to watch out for if you want to minimize the data sent to google
- rentar42 ( @rentar42@kbin.social ) 6•11 months ago
I was answering under the assumption/the context of of “Amazon wants to release an Android-based OS that doesn’t contact any of Googles services”.
So, when I said “easy enough to remove” that was relative to releasing any commercial OS based on AOSP, as in: this will be one of the smallest tasks involved in this whole venture.
They will need an (at least semi-automated) way to keep up with changes from upstream and still apply their own code-changes on top of that anyway and once that is set up, a small set of 10-ish 3-line patches is not a lot of effort. For an individual getting started and trying to keep that all up to do date individually it’s a bit more of an effort, granted.
The list you linked is very interesting, but I suspect that much of that isn’t in AOSP, my suspicion is that at most the things up to and excluding the Updater even exist in AOSP.
- Auli ( @Auli@lemmy.ca ) English1•11 months ago
Yes but people are just sideloading GAPPS and escaping their ecosystem. Might even run custom launchers so you can’t experience their ads.
- Dettweiler ( @Dettweiler42@lemmyonline.com ) English50•11 months ago
I wonder if it’s going to be as terrible as their Fire OS.
- TrivialBetaState ( @TrivialBetaState@sopuli.xyz ) 45•11 months ago
The author is exited but I’m not. I am not a big fan of corporations taking the free work of FOSS developers and turning it into a proprietary dystopia.
- Blue and Orange ( @DeathWearsANecktie@lemm.ee ) 36•11 months ago
A third competitor for Android and iOS would be amazing. But not if it’s Amazon…
- oxjox ( @oxjox@lemmy.ml ) English15•11 months ago
I just read an article about how they’re increasing advertising on their Fire TVs. Rest assured, an Amazon OS is an Advertising OS.
Although, from what I’ve gathered of public opinion online, there’s LOTS of people willing to forgo their privacy in exchange for free shit.
Edit: Oh…
They say they expect Vega to begin shipping on Fire TVs early next year.
And that article https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/after-luring-customers-with-low-prices-amazon-stuffs-fire-tvs-with-ads/
- Tak ( @Tak@lemmy.ml ) 10•11 months ago
Amazon would sell your DNA for 25 cents if they could.
- digdilem ( @digdilem@lemmy.ml ) 5•11 months ago
No difference to Google then
- Tak ( @Tak@lemmy.ml ) 4•11 months ago
Google would sell it for 20 cents
- Chemical Wonka ( @chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de ) English3•11 months ago
Apple would sell for 10 but would deny until death that it sold, and still convince you to believe that it didn’t sell.In addition to giving it a “cool” name like DNA Titanium Protection XDR or something like that,
- Chemical Wonka ( @chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de ) English1•11 months ago
OOnly if it is Libre Software. We are tired of proprietary rubbish
- Patch ( @Patch@feddit.uk ) 2•11 months ago
Android is already free software, and see how far that gets you. The kicker is that you’re tied into their services (with all the data harvesting, targeted advertising and monetisation that that involves).
- SatyrSack ( @SatyrSack@lemmy.one ) 5•11 months ago
If you’re tied to their non-free services, then its not free software.
- Chemical Wonka ( @chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de ) English5•11 months ago
I use GrapheneOS. Not all android is born equal
- baconicsynergy ( @baconicsynergy@beehaw.org ) 3•11 months ago
Yes, because it is permissively open source, not only are these companies free to build what they want - we are entitled to that same right. We therefore created LineageOS and GrapheneOS, and its really great.
There’s also a lot of motivated people getting regular Linux distributions running on mobile devices too, so we have that as well
- JokeDeity ( @JokeDeity@lemm.ee ) 36•11 months ago
LMFAO, can’t wait to see Adbuntu.
- ddh ( @DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org ) English13•11 months ago
But thats just a derivative of Debiad.
- Atemu ( @Atemu@lemmy.ml ) 33•11 months ago
TL;DR Amazon is building a Linux distro that starts a chromium to run react native apps. Apparently, you need hundreds of people for that.
- muelltonne ( @muelltonne@feddit.de ) 9•11 months ago
TBH Amazon has a whole zoo of devices. Even if they are putting a small team of 2 or 3 people in charge for porting this to each device, they might end up with a few hundred people
- DoucheBagMcSwag ( @DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 32•11 months ago
Oh so I won’t be able to sideload streaming APKs onto any new Amazon devices? Guess you can fucking keep your shit hardware then
- Radioactive Radio ( @radioactiveradio@lemm.ee ) 3•11 months ago
But that would also mean you can sideload a whole another OS, maybe?
- DoucheBagMcSwag ( @DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 9•11 months ago
Locked boot loader says otherwise
- Carlos Solís ( @csolisr@communities.azkware.net ) English1•11 months ago
There are two options here, given that the OS seems to rely heavily on React Native to work: having the streaming APKs converted to React Native apps, or simply use the web browser and PWAs.
- OsrsNeedsF2P ( @OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml ) 30•11 months ago
Apps are going to be written in React Native
So despite the desire for one, Vega won’t be an Android-killer, won’t bring an influx of big name apps to benefit regular Linux distros, nor see Amazon do something crazy cool like create its own Linux tablet UI.
- SokathHisEyesOpen ( @Anticorp@lemmy.ml ) English13•11 months ago
Apps are going to be written in React Native
Idk if I’m the only person who thinks this, but I feel like React has gotten worse over the last couple of major versions. Not only does the code look a lot messier when you use their new syntax, but the end result seems unreliable. Facebook is barely even usable now. Their history management is laughable, and it’ll drop you out of the site randomly when using the back buttons. I used to think React was really neat, but I’m not a big fan anymore. There’s too much re-engineering for problems that were solved decades ago.
- asexualchangeling ( @asexualchangeling@lemmy.ml ) 29•11 months ago
This is not what I meant when I said we need more Mobile OS competition…
- Instantnudeln ( @ErKaf@feddit.de ) 3•11 months ago
I literally said this to a friend just two days ago… And yes… Also not what I meant.
- Arthur Besse ( @cypherpunks@lemmy.ml ) 21•11 months ago
oh great, yet another platform that will use free software to restrict what people can do with their computing devices 🤮
how is this supposed to be a good thing? 🙄
- KᑌᔕᕼIᗩ ( @Kushia@lemmy.ml ) English13•11 months ago
The only thing I care about in this is if they will contribute anything back to the open source ecosystem, be it code or anything else.
- WFH ( @wfh@lemm.ee ) English13•11 months ago
No chance. Amazon has a long history of using a ton of FOSS code on AWS and contributing fuck-all.
- NaoPb ( @NaoPb@eviltoast.org ) English13•11 months ago
Nice try Amazon. I’m not falling for it.
- NutWrench ( @NutWrench@lemmy.ml ) 12•11 months ago
I already tried an Amazon Fire tablet, Amazon. No thanks. I returned it. I don’t need a locked-down console that spies on me. Windows is well on its way to becoming that already.
- Sparking ( @spark947@lemm.ee ) English3•11 months ago
I tried to get one since it was 30 bucks, so I’m not too surprised this is how they operated. They are locking down jindles real hard too. Probably going to make a lot of ewaste.
- katy ✨ ( @cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 11•11 months ago
if it’s anything like amazon linux on ec2 i’ll pass
- Sparking ( @spark947@lemm.ee ) English3•11 months ago
What are your issues with it? Just curious - I’ve always found it to be an agreeable RHEL variant.
- Sparking ( @spark947@lemm.ee ) English3•11 months ago
What are your issues with it? Just curious - I’ve always found it to be an agreeable RHEL variant.
- piracy_is_good_xdd ( @piracy_is_good_xdd@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 1•11 months ago
note: you accidentally said the same thing twice
- Sparking ( @spark947@lemm.ee ) English2•11 months ago
Did it post twice? I think there is a bug somewhere between lemmy clients. I see it happen from time to time.
- piracy_is_good_xdd ( @piracy_is_good_xdd@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 1•11 months ago
probably, just wanted to inform you :)