zlacker

> I'm not knowledgeable enough -- what would it take to escape the Apple/Google duopoly?

At this point? Reliable emulation that can run 99% of Android apps, to provide a bridge until the platform is interesting enough for people to develop for it "natively".

I think the easiest way to do that would be to run Android in a VM.

>>JoshTr+(OP)
You can go the waydroid style with namespacing, or native containers if using the linux kernel. No need to do a full vm

>>gunalx+E
You could, but using containers requires that your kernel directly provide and secure Android-compatible functionality, such as binder. A VM gives you more options for abstracting that functionality.

If you expect to be "essentially android, but a little different", containers make sense. If you want to build an entirely different mobile OS, but provide Android compatibility, I think a VM is much more likely to give you the flexibility to not defer to Android design decisions.

>>JoshTr+(OP)
Similar to how Valve is managing the transition from Windows to Linux.

>>JoshTr+(OP)
Why not run Android directly, such as using Graphene OS. It's decades ahead in both OS architecture, developer tools, and developers compared to non Android based Linux operating systems.

>>charci+k8
Graphene uses the Google codebase, so Google is choosing its long-term development strategy and standards it will support. It's like choosing Chromium to escape Chrome.

>>fsflov+bb
Not the worst choices!

>>DANmod+7g
Indeed. However, in terms of the independence, better choices exist.

>>charci+k8
Graphene OS exists because Google lets it. You can't rely on competitors that can only exist in this manner

>>fsflov+bb
The same can be said about the Linux codebase. Tomorrow Linus could private his branch and stop supporting public releases. If AOSP goes closed source then people can fork it and continue to maintain it.

>>fsflov+lh
If someone is making a new browser, considering you want to support the same web standards as everyone else, being independent is pretty low on the priority lists. In fact it is more of a liability since it could make for compatibility issues.

>>charci+3j
Linus is not known for decisions hostile to the users. Google is.

>>JoshTr+(OP)
Has no one mentioned not using a smartphone as an option?

>>JoshTr+(OP)
Well if you rely on running Android apps, you still rely on Android.

Actually, if you rely on the app, you really on the Android SDK which is not open source.

Now if you could run AOSP but your own apps built with an open source SDK, that would be a different story. Some people seem to really want to do that with PWAs. I personnally tend to hate webapps, but I have to admit that they can be open source.

>>jazzyj+Or
How do you run WhatsApp or Signal without a smartphone? Pretty hard.

If your answer is "don't use them", then you're not living in a country where the vast majority of communications are done on WhatsApp or Signal, good for you I guess.

>>palata+gs
Access to Signal and Bitwarden are the only two apps I really need daily that keep me on a smartphone. I have tried using a feature phone in the last couple years, but honestly I might as well just not have a phone at that point as almost all my communication is via Signal.

>>JoshTr+(OP)
> I think the easiest way to do that would be to run Android in a VM.

Sony's cameras used to have an Android userland that they used for their PlayMemories apps. No idea how exactly that one was implemented though, but it should be possible to get Android apps without going into being an Android fork.

>>charci+3j
Linux doesn’t really rely on Linus for coding anymore…