brings us to the latest installment of our little series of articles devoted to the relationship between Android and Linux. So far, we have learned that Linux was born with a clear philosophy free, in an attempt to offer an alternative to closed systems by copyright and large companies. It was therefore the logical choice when Android Inc, Google then decided that they needed an operating system for mobile phones that could mold to your needs. But the history of Android and Linux is not over, far from it. In fact, one could say that just started.
Of course, every story has its bumps, and the relationship Android / Linux has a few, most of the demands produced by having a company as big and powerful as Google. Anyone can get the source code and create your own Linux operating system, provided that you release the source code if you plan to distribute. But when we have a project of the magnitude and consequences of Android, life is not so simple . Not that Google does not want to follow the principles of free software, of course, but it would be wrong to say that on more than one occasion has tried to get away with it at the expense of the Linux project.
more controversial point has long been the contribution made to the Linux kernel Google. Anyone can create a patch and send it to Linux programmers to study inclusion, but evidently Google has a special interest in that the code runs in the kernel , and on more than one occasion has exercised pressure lobby to convince the right people to accept the code, something that has not sat any good.
To understand these problems, we must first explain how Android developers work. They start from a Linux kernel version, which added the necessary code to get the Android system that we all know. But creating code is not simply writing a few lines, but you have to keep. Keep track involves code bugs, quality control, and ultimately, more time and money. Google has to maintain the code that adds on their own to create Android, but is not required to keep code within Linux, but that staff and volunteers are responsible for Linux enthusiasts. Therefore, for Google it would be easier than most of the Android code were included in Linux , and so would only have to spend resources on maintaining a small part.
In 2010 this attitude led some Linux developers to make a decision: remove Android code included in Linux , with the pretext that it was not being maintained by anyone. Google had neglected the code once it passed to Linux, and this caused the maintainers busy and had even more work. As you can imagine, there was much controversy about this movement, and for months it seemed that Google would no longer contribute to Linux. Fortunately since then these hostilities have cooled, and although Google continues to maintain for themselves a good portion of Android, with each new version of the Linux kernel are adding new features designed especially for Android .
Which brings us to the current state of Android, which is very similar to that Linux had at the time. Because many companies are “taking advantage” of the work of Google creating applications and systems based on Android without contributing anything in return. I’m talking about Facebook Home and Amazon Kindle . The first takes possession of the home screen to take the user to direct competitors of Google services, and the second modifies its code to bring sales to its own store. Is it not time that Google will cut off the wings?
The answer is no, and the new leader of Android, Sundar Pichai , agrees. While having an open platform is not synonymous with free software , both concepts share the same philosophy, to advance and improve through competition and cooperation. That Facebook Home there, he says, is “exciting” and ensures that innovations are welcome, and will be the market which decides whether to stay with that choice or use of Google. The same in the case of Amazon.
And, beyond all the code in Linux you can use Android , the most important you have to stay with your philosophy is free , with the purpose of contributing to the community a space in which to create and experience, and to bring those results to the end user. And that’s why Android would not exist without Linux, and it is possible that we are approaching the time when there is no Android Linux.
Part 1. What is and how it came to be
Part 2. Google gets what the others can not
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