Google's new developer verification requirements starting September 2026 will force ALL Android app developers to register with Google - even those avoiding the Play Store entirely. F-Droid, the tr...
That’s what Google did with Android: Google literally made a free open-source operating system everybody could copy, use and develop for for free, to create a wildly successful ecosystem.
Once the ecosystem was fully developed, slowly, year after year, Google moved features out of the open-source AOSP project and into their proprietary stack. Look at AOSP now: it’s a shadow of its former self.
And now they’re killing off AOSP and AOSP-derivatives and turning Android into their own Apple-style walled garden.
I’d say Google very successfully used open-source to its advantage. Google sure knows how to play the long game.
Not really, the part Google makes money on is Google apps, and that’s all proprietary.
If you use AOSP without Google Apps, Google isn’t making any money on it. Just like they aren’t making money on f-droid.
Because Google is an evil empire that is governed by money, and opensource can’t be monetized for advertisements.
It can!
That’s what Google did with Android: Google literally made a free open-source operating system everybody could copy, use and develop for for free, to create a wildly successful ecosystem.
Once the ecosystem was fully developed, slowly, year after year, Google moved features out of the open-source AOSP project and into their proprietary stack. Look at AOSP now: it’s a shadow of its former self.
And now they’re killing off AOSP and AOSP-derivatives and turning Android into their own Apple-style walled garden.
I’d say Google very successfully used open-source to its advantage. Google sure knows how to play the long game.
Not really, the part Google makes money on is Google apps, and that’s all proprietary.
If you use AOSP without Google Apps, Google isn’t making any money on it. Just like they aren’t making money on f-droid.