Big words, no action plan?
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I got an idea for a next-gen app store,
every poweruser by now has a home server device. Like a raspberry-pi on top of a shelf doing things like NAS storage. I use mine to host a mediawiki (very useful).
ANYWAYS there should be a self-hosted home server app that connects to F-Droid to retrieve info on new apps and updates. Then have a desktop client front-end that connects and updates your phone via ADB. Or if it exists, a network based ADB that allows you to connect to your phone the home server to update apps.
I agree we need to cater to normies, but first we need to find a way for F-Droid to survive even if its only useful to power-users.
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Itâs okay to be tired. And itâs okay to feel defeated.
Itâs also okay to take a break even if you feel the need to.
But never give up on what you believe in. If you want something to change. Never give up. No matter how grim and dark things may be. Never give up. Be the change you want to see in the world.
I am a lot like you I love tinkering with devices I get a very massive kick out of doing it myself. I also love having Privacy and Security. All of these things combined would implicate a device we actually own.
And there are also times where Iâm questioning if what I am doing is worth it. I mean there are people out there getting more polished, feature packed, smooth, powerful experiences out there for effectively no effort. While Iâm stuck here with a device that while it can do a lot it is nowhere near the caliber of theirs..
But I never find myself switching away either. Cause switching away would be giving my ideals up.
I would rather fight the good fight and push for improvement and fairness on what I am already using and love rather than suck up to some lousy suits who donât give any sort of regard or care about my wellbeing. Though in all fairness to them why should they? To them Iâm just a nobody that spends money on a product.
But that doesnât mean they should be able to mistreat me either. And that is why I continue on.
It is important to say Iâm not saying devote your whole life to a cause. Thatâs not a good idea at all you have a life worth living to the fullest. What Iâm trying to say is you should look for a better middle ground to balance yourself on. One that appeals to you, one that supports your ideals while at the same time not feeling like your actively being punished for using. I donât have any suggestions here but I hope youâll be able to figure that out.
It could get to that point where itâs delusional but itâs not over till itâs over. The fact of the matter is not only has this change not gone through yet so there is still plenty of time for a pushback (Google really needs to consider how risky this is for Android but they wonât untill either some government or company slaps them or until itâs too late.)
And also there are still Android phones being manufactured that are able to be flashed and itâs probably going to stay that way. Which also means Custom Operating Systems are probably going to stick around which this change cannot affect them even if it does go through as most Custom Operating Systems are not Google Certified.
And on top of the fact I really donât think Google is really going to be able to shut those very same Custom Operating Systems out completely I think I can safely continue on owning my device as my own even if this change goes through.
And even if that isnât the case the fact of the matter is I can still keep using my device until I need to get a new one. They canât just poof my device away. Obviously this would throw security down the drain but at least my device would still be mine.
Worrying is something most humans are guilty of despite it being a energy waster. Itâs something we are oddly good at. The best thing anyone can do is continue pushing forward and also pushing against such a change and see what happens.
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is anybody on the inside of F-Droid making a plan? Its been 3 months since original post.
Google relies on normies not really knowing or caring about whatâs going on to implement potentially controversial features, so it might be a good idea to try and spread the word and explain it in a way that normies will understand. They also heavily rely on normies naturally thinking itâs for âsecurityâ or âuser experienceâ. Large companies never expect everyday users to actively fight back and disprove their claims.
Well, I have plans for an Android OS, conceptualized as Arceus AOS (Android Operating System) which should come with F-Droid pre-installed, and it may be classified as a System App there, so it can download freely without concerns. But still, itâs a very early concept.
That sounds like a great concept, but how would that work and how would you protect against any potential attempts by Google to shut it down or shrink its userbase?
HmmâŚWell, Arceus AOS will have to be distributed, and likely what someone posted in an earlier post does raise an intriguing possibility, if that service supplies Androids fitted with the Arceus AOS, it would allow users F-Droid access without any restrictions, since F-Droid would be a System App, so on Arceus AOS, F-Droid is the mandatory repository, rather than Google Playâs repository. But since F-Droid can connect to other F-Droid repositories, it can be expanded, alongside the ability to use Aurora Store to access Google Play Store without the services to ensure that the Arceus AOS is not compromised. Thereâs some serious benefits to this.
There should be phones and tablets with Arceus AOS preinstalled so users who donât know how or donât want to install custom ROMs (which is most users) can still access it, while also releasing it as a custom ROM/ZIP file so it can be installed on existing devices by power users. This would also help it reach a wider number of users and allow device hardware to be optimized for Arceus AOS.
Another distro is fine but we have options like that in the field right now. LineageOS, BlissOS, Droidan, CalixOS, The Brax.ME phones have some kind of custom GraphineOS.
I think the problem is support for these OSes usually die quick.
HmmâŚHow do we get Arceus AOS to survive? If itâs the only Distro left, it might benefit since everybody could work on it together, not to mention the large spread due to being the only Distro available in such a situationâŚ
Brax.ME is planning to migrate to Ubuntu Touch.
the way I see it, hardware is getting smaller and smaller. Its inevitable that, at one point we will be able to install a traditional desktop OS such as Windows or Linux on cellphone size hardware. No need to depend on Android for mobile.
Mind you the current trade war will delay progress a bit. Google is bent on screwing us over. Do we have reason to persist to stay with Android?
I think there needs to be something that separates Arceus AOS from other custom ROMs such as GrapheneOS and LineageOS, otherwise people wonât be interested. There also needs to be some kind of resilence and longevity plan since Google does not like competition, especially competition that directly challenges their control over the Android ecosystem. If Google does manage to kill off Arceus AOS, we will need a backup plan otherwise it will fizzle out over time.
True, Arceus AOS could get in trouble if Google tries harder. But there is a possibility that the Arceus AOS could add additional applications that actually allow users to utilize their devices, but they will just be pre-installed and could be removed without issue.
This battle was lost the day Linux stood in defence of tivoization and nobody but the most zealous FOSS advocates cared. No court or government or public outrage is going to help now, cause nobody in those circles understands the core issues of the industry well, you might win some temporary lifeline at best, and then through some comprmise end up just validating the status quo. This can only be fixed by concious action from the devloper community and we donât even have most of them on our side, so stay calm and keep doing what you are doing, improving your FOSS product and service, winning the minds and hearts of devopers one by one, who will then do their best to push your stuff in their work, itâs a slow grind, but you just have to persevere.
Picture this: one day top secet covert classified FOSS double agent Alice is going to be put in charge of phones in big evil corpo, and purely for security and reliability reasons (honest, trust me, pinkie promise) sheâs going to chose to upgrade to devices that support Lineage OS out of the box and flash F-Droid pre-configured with their own curated repo. Then her coworker Bob is going to take one of these new shiny phones home and show it off to their family and friends. Everyoneâs gonna love it and be very impressed and think about getting one like that for themselves. Total coincidence - Conradin from local phone service center is also gonna be there, and be like âhey, yâall can actually bring some of your old phones in, and I might actually be able to fix you up with some of that stuff at a discount wink winkâ. Now isnât that lovely and jolly and fun and appropriate for for all agesâŚ
Itâs either that or a total collapese of the industry, which no government or legislator or even public cotingent that is well off enough to have software freedom as a concern will allow to happen.
You were never going to win by market share on stock Android, itâs not Windows where giving admin rights to random stuff you downloaded from internet and disabling the antivirus is the normal way of doing things, the unknown sources toggle and the play protect warnings are already enough to deter most users, not because they respect them, but simply because they canât be bothered - the thing is already a usability nighmare and I was fed up messing with it before I was born, thank you very much, no more toggles, how do I disable everything for good?
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Yeah, but Arceus AOS is still likely the best possible outcome, since F-Droid on that Android Operating System would be stuck on there, unremovable. That way users can always access F-Droid without needing to bother with downloading an APK and risking their devices with said APKs.
How the Google part can be solved is with microG, so considering that, most of the Google stuff can be bypassed, then Aurora Store should find a way to yank all the Google Bloatware from all the applications that are provided.
Plus, thereâs one additional benefit of the Arceus AOS if the Arceus 2600 becomes a reality: Arceus 2600 account cross-over, meaning you can download purchased/acquired games from the Arceus 2600 game repository to your device (And itâs the smallest possible size that works), allowing the ability to play your games on Android just in case your Arceus 2600 is unable to be moved around. So with this, you would have F-Droid and its repositories, the Google Play Repository (microG) & the Arceus 2600 game repository, all on one convenient AOS. Plus, minimal Bloatware (F-Droid isnât really Bloatware).
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I will repeat myself. The two big problems with the alternatives are:
- they only support a narrow range of hardware models
- even on supported hardware, for installation they require to start with an obsolote version of stock Android.
So for me, even if Iâm willing to spend big $ for a new unlocked phone, how the hell can I then install an alternative OS on it??
I have come to understand the only hope is something like Purism or Pine.
Linux phones while cool are a bit out of context here, nothing to do with F-Droid. LinageOS still exists and supports a lot of devices, and there are options appearing on the market even for non technical people who canât be expected to flash their own phones.
Smells a bit too Big Brother to my taste, but they mention F-Droid running under the hood so they canât be that bad 