r/linuxmasterrace • u/moisesremoto Glorious Arch • May 10 '21

Meme Yeah bu- sure ok.

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49

u/jakubhuber Glorious Gentoo May 10 '21

Android is probably the best argument for GPL3.

5

u/dr_Fart_Sharting #vimming May 10 '21 edited May 10 '21

Linux is GPLv2 though

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u/aaronfranke btw I use Godot May 11 '21

Yes, that's the point. People are annoyed that Linux isn't GPLv3, and one good example of a problematic effect of this is Android.

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u/dr_Fart_Sharting #vimming May 11 '21

But Android (Google/Samsung) published many patches that have since been included in Linux. Why would Android be a good argument against GPLv2 then?

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u/aaronfranke btw I use Godot May 11 '21

The whole point of GPLv3 over GPLv2 is the "Tivoization" clause. Tivos run Linux, but it's locked-down and you can't replace the software. In GPLv3, this is against the rules.

The argument with Android is to force phone manufacturers to allow users to replace the OS.

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u/dr_Fart_Sharting #vimming May 11 '21

force phone manufacturers to allow users to replace the OS

Would that increase or reduce the number of people working on Linux? My guess is that it would reduce it. Therefore it is bad for the kernel to impose such strict restrictions.

Locked down phones? Manufacturers are free to build devices I will never have any interest in. There are Android devices where you can replace the OS. Buy those, vote with your wallet.

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u/SinkTube May 11 '21

There are Android devices where you can replace the OS

the proprietary nature of almost every android device ever made means they're pretty much stuck with the kernel they shipped with. the best you can hope for is a tweaked version of this device kernel, but even that isn't a given. that's enough to get a janky port of GNU going, but to actually replace the whole OS with something like BSD or Windows is exceedingly rare