“Last week, the hottest new Android-based phone arrived on the
doorstep of thousands of expectant T-Mobile customers. What didn’t
arrive with the G2 was the source code that runs the heart of the
device — a customized Linux kernel. Android has been hailed as an
open platform in the midst of other highly locked-down systems, but
as it makes its way out of the Google source repository and into
devices this vision has repeatedly hit speedbumps. Last year, I
blogged about one such issue, and to their credit Google sorted out
a solution. This has ultimately been to everyone’s benefit, because
the modified versions of the OS have routinely enabled software
applications that the stock versions haven’t supported (not to
mention improved reliability and speed).“When the G2 arrived, modders were eager to get to work. First,
they had to overcome one of the common hurdles to getting anything
installed — the “jailbreak”. Although the core operating system is
open source, phone manufacturers and carriers have placed
artificial restrictions on the ability to modify the basic system
files”