Will Android be Open source (truly, properly) before 2028?
8
31
190
2028
14%
chance

Maybe Google could spin it off to its own separate ogranization like they do so many times and let the Open source community finally fix it.

From Digits to Dollars:

Not the half measure Android Open Source Project (AOSP) they have today, but completely spun off into its own foundation, or ceded to the fine folks at the Linux Foundation.

Obviously this might cause some anxiety at Google. Android was created to prevent them from getting shut out of the mobile search market. So they have to be worried that losing control of Android would cause that to happen.

But we think that is an outdated model. Google could still cut deals with the handset makers to keep Google as the Android default search engine, just as they do with Apple. This would be expensive, but not as expensive as the billions they pay Apple every year. The handset makers would still want to license Google Apps (the G-Suite, mail, maps, etc.).

And Google would not lose their ability to influence the code. Every major open source project relies heavily on corporates contributing significant engineering time. Linux was built with a very large time contribution from Intel. Google could easily emulate this model. Google could also worry that every Android licensee would create their own version of the OS confounding users. Oh wait, we have that already. Google would also rightly worry that changing privacy policies (not least Apple’s ATT) make internal traffic much more strategic to company’s dependent on advertising.While this is a legitimate concern, we imagine Google could take steps to ensure their needs are met on this front.

Most importantly, by relinquishing control of Android Google could remove a very large anti-trust vulnerability. Scan the many regulatory cases against Google and Android is at the heart of many of them.

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