What can i do if i root my lg optimus m? does it let me download apps for free? sorry im a nooby noob =]
Rooting in Linux/UNIX terms is very much like system "Administrator" for Windows, "jailbreaking" for iPhone. It lets you do anything you want.
On a locked-down corporate/school Windows PC you can't do anything the administrator has said you can't. At work, we are not allowed to install or uninstall programs, change screen savers, wallpaper, display properties. (Well, I can do some of that anyway, but that's another story. Shhh...
) Whereas if you ard admin, you can do what you want -- it's now YOUR computer. You OWN it. (This is where PWNED came from, it was a typo of "OWNED!" -- meaning this guy now had complete control of someone else's system.)
On iPhone, control freak Steve Jobs won't let users download and install apps that he/Apple haven't approved. But if you jailbroke your iPhone, now it was YOUR iPhone, not Steve Jobs. You OWNED it and could install what you wanted. For a long time, Jobs wouldn't let Google Voice on iPhone, because it gave free phone calls and bypassed AT&T. Both Apple and At&T denied that was the reason, but insiders said of course that was the reason. It took the Feds investigating for Apple to recently approve Google voice. Whereas, two years ago jailbroken iPhone users could easily install Google Voice on their iPhone.
Jailbreaking[1] is a process that allows iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users to gain root access to the command line of the iOS operating system, thereby removing usage and access limitations imposed by Apple. Once jailbroken,[1] iPhone users are able to download extensions and themes that are unavailable through the App Store (via installers such as Cydia) and perform other tasks that are not possible on store-bought devices, including installing non-Apple operating systems such as Linux.[2] A jailbroken iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS can still use the App Store and iTunes and other normal functions, such as making telephone calls.
Same with rooting on Android. Android is a more open system, based on Linux, but still manufacturers like Motorola (with their MOTOblur gui) and carriers like Verizon and now Metro put on stuff they don't want you to take off. Stuff that either helps them with branding or makes them money, one way or the other. So what if it slows down your phone and sucks up your memory?
THEY don't care. Well, if you root it, you now OWN it, not them.
You can do what you want.
Earlier this year, when Android 2.2 came out many Android phones were still running 2.1 or even 1.6. Rooted owners could install 2.2, but regular owners had to wait for their manufacturer to push out 2.2. Sometimes it was MONTHS later, in some cases it never happened. Those people are stuck on 1.6. "Sorry, you want newer Android operating system, then you have to buy a new phone from us!"
We have a phone with 2.2, but later this month Android 2.3 Gingerbread will be made public. LG/Metro will push it out to us, but when? Next April or May?
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Rooting is a process that allows users of cellphones running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as "root access") within Android's Linux subsystem, similar to jailbreaking on Apple devices running the iOS operating system, overcoming limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on such phones.
Rooting makes it possible to use custom versions of the Android system such as CyanogenMod, supporting features unavailable in stock ROMs. It also allows for newer versions of Android not supplied by the original device manufacturer. In contrast to iOS jailbreaking, rooting is not needed to run applications not distributed by the official Android Market with the exception of AT&T phones which are locked from installing third party applications. (see? Die, AT&T, die!)
It is needed however, when trying to access paid Android applications from countries which are not part of the paid applications market. Rooting is also necessary for certain applications and widgets that require additional system and hardware rights such as for rebooting the phone, certain backup utilities and hacks for hardware LEDs.
We don't have an LED on our phone, but still rooting gives you complete control as it lets it totally be YOUR phone.
