Mastodawn

@fdroidorg @keepandroidopen

KDE

Spread this post and, if you are the maintainer of a software project with versions for Android, please join us and sign the open letter:

https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/

An Open Letter to Google regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Android App Distribution

Open Letter to Google Regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Third-Party App Distribution

@kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen Do you really think a company that lick the boots of a fascist dictator will give a damn about this open letter, let alone the openness of its own products?

@Stem @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen Perhaps, but what does it cost to try?

#Google #Android #Capitalism

@olivenolje @kde

It costs a missed opportunity to give more appropriate advice: stay away from google and use more private community forks of android that if I understand correctly will not be affected by googles papers please app ecosystem.

A strategy focusing on begging tech giants to not do the will of capital is basically lying to the public that there is a chance this can work.

In theory yes the open letter is a nice thing to have regardless of how google reacts because then we have something to point to how google is ignoring public opinion - but it needs to be presented with heavy caveats and we need to focus on getting average people out of googles grip so they don't hold this much power over us

@ambiguous_yelp @olivenolje @kde I couldn't have said it better.

@ambiguous_yelp @kde Fair point.

However, if we insist on using Android (forks), we're still impacted by Google's decisions. Sooner or later, these forks will be less and less of a valid option (cf. how google's changes to the Pixel 10 series were a pain for the Grapheneos team).

Even if this letter fails, we shouldn't simply stick our heads in sand and look away from these issues. As you mentioned, raising public awareness is critical. So is fighting against their control.

#Anarchism #OpenSourceHardware

@olivenolje @kde @Stem

I expect hardware to become more locked down, this is what states and capital want. The best solution to that continues to be open source hardware and modular devices.

I believe this because open source hardware and modular devices create power at a grassroots level and invites tighter crackdowns from governments - but there is a political limit to how oppressive a regime can be and the more power we build for ourselves the more expensive it will be for them to stop us using unapproved apps which slows the whole oppressive system down

Pete the Gopher Keeper Feb 27

@ambiguous_yelp @olivenolje @kde @Stem I agree. I believe one solution is to start/continue to design hardware that's generic enough to do the job. Think dune buggies which are bare-bones but can move around quickly. Bolt on accessories as needed. Perhaps bring the #Permacomputing crowd in? Framework Computer style?

Olivenolje Feb 27

@GopherPete "Permacomputing", now that's a concept I've never heard of before.
Sounds particularly interesting!

Edit: Also while at it @frameworkcomputer @pine64 @pine64eu

Pete the Gopher Keeper Feb 27

@olivenolje @frameworkcomputer @pine64 @pine64eu
I stumbled across it via a random posting, but they have a web site https://permacomputing.net/ and a mailing list. Worth a look I think.

permacomputing

@ambiguous_yelp @olivenolje

KDE Feb 26

Oh! We agree. That's what @plasmamobile is all about. However, realistically PlaMo is not ready for the general public yet, despite how hard we are working on it.

If we could get the sort of support regular Plasma has, the story would be VERY different. But PlaMo is still niche.

@kde @olivenolje @plasmamobile

I hadn't heard until Plasma Mobile until now, I had only heard of the pinephone one. I am excited to hear more about the project development in the future!

#KDE #PlasmaMobile #Linux #Pinephone

zetabeta Feb 26

@ambiguous_yelp @kde @olivenolje @plasmamobile
short:
linux mobile has roughly three ui options.
1 plasma mobile.
2 phosh.
3 gnome-mobile.

PerryPeak Feb 26

@ambiguous_yelp @kde @olivenolje @plasmamobile AFAIK the pinephone is the hardware (that can run plasma mobile or another interface) and plasma mobile is the software (that can run on the pinephone or on another device)

#Pinephone #Linux #LinuxMobile

@PerryPeak ah yes I keep mixing that up and thinking pinephone have their own distro

@PerryPeak @ambiguous_yelp @olivenolje @plasmamobile

KDE Feb 26

The preferred test hardware is OnePlus 6 and 6t these days.

@ambiguous_yelp @kde @olivenolje @plasmamobile

Kellic Tiger

Feb 26

Not even remotely ready. I'd almost say its 10 years away but you need a foundation for it to run on. And the number of phones it can run on right now I can count on one hand. Which is not a good start. Classic chicken and the egg situation, sadly.

@KellicTiger

I would base phone purchasing decisions on it but bigger priorities are avoiding conflict materials and modularity so I will stick with fairphone until I find something better

#Fairphone

@KellicTiger @ambiguous_yelp @kde @plasmamobile Actually, even if it goes against the concept of user freedom, I'd prefer all the efforts going into making Linux solid for a handful of phones, instead of trying to adapt the OS to many different brands and models.

Even better, exclusively work on something like the PinePhone and make it the flagship of Linux phones. Perhaps the Linux Mobile would then finally really take off?

@kde @ambiguous_yelp @plasmamobile Would more donations significantly help the project?
Or is the limiting factor the lack of contributors?

@olivenolje @ambiguous_yelp @plasmamobile

KDE Feb 26

Very much both. Also finding more hardware support. In that respect, we must not forget about the great work the people at @postmarketOS are doing! They help us get PlaMo on to more phones, giving us more space in which to grow.

@olivenolje @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen Giving people false hope with an action that have no chance to have any meaningful result.

F-Droid Feb 26

@Stem @olivenolje @kde @keepandroidopen So you wrote to your local representative already? What did they answer?

@kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen

Simon Deutschl Feb 26

@Stem
No. But to keep the mouth shut and let it happen quietly is not an option.

@simondeutschl @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen Any option will lead to the same result, so what does it matter?

@kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen

Simon Deutschl Feb 26

@Stem
If you fight, you'll probably lose. But if you don't fight, you have already lost.

@simondeutschl @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen If you fight with inefficient weapons, you have also already lost.

@kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen

Simon Deutschl Feb 26

@Stem
OK... 🤷‍♂️

Fokeu🌸Feb 26

@Stem @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen so do you think that we should comply?

@Fokeu @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen It's not like we had any other choice.

Kilgore Trout Feb 26

@Stem @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen So let's stand aside while the world burns, right? What's the point of fighting for anything any more?

@kilgoretrout @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen Don't expect to win a fight against a supertank if your only weapon is a fistful of tiny stones.

@Stem @kilgoretrout @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen This mentality is exactly what brought us to this exact point in the first place. It's also what led to many major historical disasters (will do as I lack a better world rn)

@olivenolje @kilgoretrout @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen No, what brought us to this point is people giving false hopes about weapons that had largely proved their inefficiency.

Kilgore Trout Feb 27

@Stem
keepandroidopen.org has information about what you can do besides begging Google.
@kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen

mormund Feb 26

@Stem @kde @fdroidorg @keepandroidopen this letter is not only for Google, but also regulators etc. Especially the EU should be up in arms over a DMA violation here, but that's just my opinion man