zlacker

>>transp+(OP)
This is entirely unsurprising. It's been clear that Google has been into their Android duopoly-abusive stage for a while now, with more and more of their Android changes moving into GMS or non-AOSP Google apps (like camera, messages, location services, etc) over the last decade. Graphene has been doomed to this fate for a long time, and anyone who thought otherwise was naively optimistic.

The same is clearly coming for Chromium forks, which is why I've always thought the privacy and ad-blocking forks are a joke - if they ever gain enough marketshare, or if google just tires of the public open source charade, they have no chance of maintaining a modern browser on their own.

This is all the more likely now that Google has been emboldened by not having to sell off Chrome for anticompetitive reasons.

>>scottb+ll
Just a year prior, I would have been against a decision to force Google to part with either Android or Chrome.

Now, I'm of the opinion that they should have been forced to sell off both, and maybe Chromebooks too, for the good measure.

No company with a direction as vile and openly user-hostile as what Google currently demonstrates should have anywhere near this level of control over the ecosystem.

>>ACCoun+9m
And by destroying the Android development team you'd achieve what exactly? Magical appearance of the security patches you're complaining about here?

Would you start to actually pay for all those hundreds of engineers maintaining the OS?

>>izacus+du
Drone manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi etc need an OS. Right now it's more profitable for them to just pay licences to Google. But if Google lost Android... they would need to find a solution.

I would like to see this, at least something would be happening.

>>palata+3v
I could see sort of an Android consortium taking over developing it and keeping it going outside of Google. Samsung, Oppo, Xiaomi, Huwawei, Motorola, etc.

Honestly it'd probably be better off that way. Google has far too much influence and control.

>>theweb+ZJ
None of those companies have a tiny little bit of interest of helping their competitors with joint development. I guess you're too young to remember the balkanization of Symbian among such companies?

>>izacus+EU
Those are companies, their only interest is to maximise profit. Apparently right now the most profitable is to pay Google for the Android licence.

Huawei found themselves on their own because of the ban, and decided to go for HarmonyOS NEXT. Probably they wouldn't come back to a "joint development AOSP" now.

Now if Google lost Android, what would happen for the others? Would they each try their luck with their own OS or would they try to go for a joint development?