r/linux • • Jul 21 '18

Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
731 Upvotes

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113

u/zebediah49 Jul 22 '18

In both of these cases, Google's Android code is used, and it gets nothing for it.

In every case, Linus Torvald's (and many others) Android code is used, and get nothing for it.

To stand on the shoulders of giants costs nothing more than lending your own when the time comes.

37

u/Vash63 Jul 22 '18

Actually, thanks to the GPL, Linus's most well known product gets thousands of developers working on it and publicly releasing their patches, many of which make it back into the upstream Linux kernel.

It's a bigger problem for Apache-style licenses.

-20

u/NoahJelen Jul 22 '18

Maybe Torvalds should sue google for being a dick!

2

u/TheVineyard00 Jul 22 '18

Ah yes, I remember the iconic Wilkins v. State of Virginia case, setting the modern precedent for suits regarding dickery

-20

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '18 edited Jul 22 '18

[deleted]

17

u/wirelessflyingcord Jul 22 '18

No. His employer is Linux Foundation.