I'm not too keen on the potential for abuse with phones these days. Would Open Source OSs like Cyanogenmod combat this? I know there is some controversy surrounding Cyanogenmod at the moment, so maybe another option would be a good choice? Should we be concerned at all?
Yes, for a multitude of reasons. the primary reason is updates. Google's Android Platform has the worst update system in the industry.. it's an absolute joke. you can blame the carriers or Google. but it doesn't matter who you blame, the problem still exists.
There are still phones out here that are still running "Ice Cream Sandwich" and Google is already prepping up for Android "M" or Milkshake if the rumored name turns out to be true. and these phones are never going to get the update. to get the updates on time you have to have a Nexus device. which shouldn't be the case. Not even Windows Phones deal with non-sense despite the OS not being on par with Android or iOS. and to take it further, We don't even deal with this on PCs. Windows we get updates quickly. Linux Desktop we get updates quickly despite the device. and OS X gets updates regardless of device.
So keep the argument short, yes. Google seems to not care about devices other their own. so Open source the OS so we can combat this. Windows Mobile could get away with not having to Open Sourcing OS because the Update system is just much better. and whatever Windows Phone you have, they all function exactly the same. unlike Android where all the OEMs want to add their little features to the OS which is either terrible or bloat-like on the device. Even Microsoft announced that with Windows 10, they won't need Carriers to release their updates, they can release it OTA and we'll get it as soon as they announce it.
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The reason these phones dont get updates is because of tivoisation. Company's can use open source code but effecivly make it useless unless you use only their official releases. I.e. locked bootladers etc. GPLv3 fixed this meaning you had to be able to actually use your modified code or it wasn't allowed. But its not adopted by Linux and the android stack so companies take the code and attempt to lock you in and make you update by buying new phones.
Thebtewson windows and iOS get updates quicker is becuae the phone manufactures have no say. They can't just take the windows code and screw around with it. The problem is you are locked into windows with no idea what its actually doing and no control over your phone.
So.. Buy from companies that allow you access to the hardware and allow you tonunlock your boot loader.
This is one of the reasons I am so enamored with Sailfish. It is open source besides a few Nokia things and is full Linux. The android app compatibility is just the cherry on top of a great UI
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Or it could also be Google truly not giving a fuck as well. Google could of done the same thing Microsoft and Apple did when it comes to updates, they haven't. i wonder why that is? to get full proper security fixes and updates, I gotta have a Nexus device? that's stupid. and what makes it even hilarious as well is that i can't even install just a stock Android ROM on my Phone that google provides to OEMs. cause it doesn't work properly. the stock rom only works for Nexus devices.
Agreed, but is it going to be much easier to install on any Android device? or am i going to need a Nexus device as well? I've only seen Sailfish OS videos on Nexus Devices and the Jolla Tablet. WHICH i'm wondering when the hell can we purchase the damn thing, the wait is murder.
The tablet was a kick starter. There phone will have to be bought from Europe. They have a OPO port from what I understand. There are some other ports, I think, gotta check XDA.
If only more x86 phones existed.
if Canonical wasn't such a shit company we would have a great use for X86 phones running full desktop linux when docked and some sort of modified touch environment when undocked. We'll have to wait for another project that doesn't shit the bed like Ubuntu Touch did.
Really we just need modern UMPCs that can also work as phones, windows 10 might make it possible.