Root Google moving to openjdk for Android

[bfldworker]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/01/04/google-adopts-open-jdk-for-android/

What I don't get is why doesn't Google use a pure Linux code base. It is evident Larry Ellison loathes Android, so why still use java.

 

[svim]

Well don't forget that back when Google bought Android from Android, Inc. back in 2005, Java was still being managed and supported by Sun Microsystems. It wasn't until after Oracle bought up Sun in 2010 that the crap-storm started when Ellison started up his patent trolling lawsuit.
Google touts Open Source a lot but it's never going to give up the profit making aspect of proprietary software development. The Chrome browser is a good example, it's based on the open Chromium as its engine but there's a licensed Google layer as the interface that prevents Chrome from being an actual Open Source product. Android is the same, it's open sourced but on any Google approved phone there's its proprietary package of Google apps/services that prevents it from being an actual Open Source phone OS.

 

[bfldworker]

Well don't forget that back when Google bought Android from Android, Inc. back in 2005, Java was still being managed and supported by Sun Microsystems. It wasn't until after Oracle bought up Sun in 2010 that the crap-storm started when Ellison started up his patent trolling lawsuit.
Google touts Open Source a lot but it's never going to give up the profit making aspect of proprietary software development. The Chrome browser is a good example, it's based on the open Chromium as its engine but there's a licensed Google layer as the interface that prevents Chrome from being an actual Open Source product. Android is the same, it's open sourced but on any Google approved phone there's its proprietary package of Google apps/services that prevents it from being an actual Open Source phone OS.

Google doesn't make any money from Android. It doesn't charge OEM's that have it on their devices, it doesn't charge users for use of most of its apps (GAPPS). And from what I read that was the whole point of the Open Handset Alliance. Google could avoid a lot if issues if it came up with its own universal bianary like Microsoft did for Windows 10. Why? I have a bad feeling that if Google goes to OpenJDK that Oracle would sabotage that. Why? He owns a shit ton of Apple stock. And what is bad for Apple is bad for Ellison.

 

[svim]

Google doesn't make any money from Android. It doesn't charge OEM's that have it on their devices, it doesn't charge users for use of most of its apps (GAPPS).

Actually Google is making plenty of money off of Android. It's not selling it as a product, I never stated it was, but it rakes in a huge windfall simply by letting others use it. The more people who use Android, the more people who interact online, the more other corporations tie their product development to Google services, the more money that indirectly gets tallied up in the accounting department in Mountain View, CA. The Google Maps API is a good example -- if your company wants to fold Google Maps into your next big project there's a $10,000/yer fee involved.

 

[bfldworker]

Actually Google is making plenty of money off of Android. It's not selling it as a product, I never stated it was, but it rakes in a huge windfall simply by letting others use it. The more people who use Android, the more people who interact online, the more other corporations tie their product development to Google services, the more money that indirectly gets tallied up in the accounting department in Mountain View, CA. The Google Maps API is a good example -- if your company wants to fold Google Maps into your next big project there's a $10,000/yer fee involved.

I must admit that it never crossed my mind.