Linux-based phones : Why are GNU/Linux users treated as second class?
Like many free software users, I am greatly encouraged by the number of mobile phones that are starting to come out running some form of embedded Linux-based OS. Nokia’s Maemo and Palm’s webOS are shaping up and it seems every day we hear of yet another Android device. All of this is good news, but just how useful are these free software phones to the free software lover? Not as much as they could be it seems.
It’s all about the apps
Thanks to the ubiquitous iPhone (you have to admire Apple’s marketing skills if nothing else), mobile phones are all about the applications these days. I own an HTC Hero, an Android-based (but not Google-dependant) phone and mightily pleased I am with it too. I like the fact that there are plenty of applications, some useful, some silly and some a nice way to waste a few minutes waiting for a train. Installing new Android apps is a breeze — as you would expect it to be — but there’s something missing from the listings: the licence. Sure some apps include their licence within the notes but those will be from the authors that feel the licence is important; and usually that’s the free licences.
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