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Comment Re: The solution is obvious (Score 1) 579

You do not have to pay for android source code. It is open source. You can download and compile it right now I'd you wish. That's what Amazon did with fire os and what cyanogenmod did.

If you want to use Googles apps on a phone you sell, then yes there is an agreement to get access to googles apps on your companies phones.

Android is not open source. Android is not free.
The publicly available open source code is NOT the same as what is developed by Google (and collaboratively by OEMs) and released to market running on high end devices. This (and Google's apps) is what consumers want, and it's what they (and OEMs) pay actual money for.
The two are not comparable. AOSP is NOT Android.

Comment Re:The solution is obvious (Score 1) 579

Download the Android source from the official site for free: https://source.android.com/sou...

Android includes proprietary drivers and other code that you don't get to access unless you're a big OEM giving Google money, branding agreements, etc. Android also includes other code that does make it into the public release, but delayed for many months (often over a year).

The repository you linked isn't Android. It's an old version of stripped-down Android that no one can use to create a competitive high end device. Google does this because of what Amazon did with the Kindle line, and because of what they fear Samsung could do. (Hint: Fork Android, have your own store, and cut Google out of the picture.)

This is why Google made their apps separate (and not free) for OEMs. People want Google's apps, but they don't care about Android Caramel Apple when they're already on Lemon Meringue. By tying those apps to a CASH MONEY license or a branding / no fork / first born's soul agreement, Google always gets a piece.

This is also why Google doesn't want to patch old devices. Doing so just means people have less incentive to run the latest version of Android, which is the version Google can guarantee it gets paid for. Carriers have similar motivation - testing/pushing out the updates is costly, and NOT doing so encourages people to buy a new device and extend their contract.

Comment Re:The solution is obvious (Score 2, Interesting) 579

Except that google isn't charging for their new software.

Yes they fucking are. Android is not free. Android is not open source. AOSP is not Android.
If you are an OEM and you want the latest version of Android you pay money and agree to bundle Google's apps and store (which cost more money) into a "flagship" phone that will launch within a certain time frame and is expected to sell some minimum number of units and will be heavily advertised as running Android X.Y Whatever Candy.

Comment Re:The solution is obvious (Score 2, Interesting) 579

The updates are NOT free. Android is NOT free.
You have to PAY to get access to Android source code. You pay more if you want the newer versions. You have to agree to shit like bundling Google's apps and store (which now also cost money separate from Android itself) or guaranteeing a "flagship" phone launch with expected sales of X within a certain time frame if you want access to the latest builds.

Even if Android was actually free, there are plenty of costs associated with pushing out an update. You've got to make sure the new version runs on the old devices (it won't). Then you've got to do QA. Then you've got to push the update out to the carriers. Then the carriers have to do their own validating. Then the carriers have to push it out.

Then people have to accept the update.

Google is the pot calling the granite counter top of Microsoft black.

Comment Re:Good news (Score 1) 422

Brawn, Prowl, Ratchet and Ironhide were all killed in the first five minutes with barely a fight, and for no other reason than to make way for the new toys.

They were killed because Megatron assaulted their shuttle and shot them the fuck up.
They were at war. People (and transformers) die in wars.
The movie established right from the beginning that it wasn't just a Saturday morning cartoon and that it was going to have consequences. This is a good thing.

Comment Re:Kaspersky IS (Score 1) 467

Kaspersky IS has signature whitelisting. If the executable isn't in the whitelist it doesn't run, period. You can configure it to completely prevent the execution of non-whitelisted exes.

You can do this for free with Group Policy shit.
I believe you can even whitelist executables based on publisher certificate, so when a new version of whatever rolls out you don't have to update the whitelist.

Comment Re: for windows read below (Score 5, Informative) 467

Microsoft Security Essentials is Windows Defender is System Center Endpoint Protection.
Definition updates come out every few hours.
They all catch the vast majority of shit.

EMET (also free and from MS) will prevent many of the 0-day vulnerabilities that MSE/WD/SCEP could miss until the next definition update rolls out.

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