Android lockdown: Thanks Linus

"The current lockdown of Linux based devices (including Android phones, TiVo, and many many consumer devices) is due, simply, to the Linux developers' unwillingness to update their code to the GPLv3 license. We* contribute to Linux, Linux is taken for use in Android (and remains Open and Free), and then the phone manufacturers take our work and lock it up and sell it to us with reduced functionality. Big thanks, manufacturers.

"The GPLv2 license, released a very long time ago (in Technology terms), didn't foresee device manufacturers using the Free, Open code in their devices, but locking down those hardware devices to prevent that hardware from running anything but the manufacturer's signed code."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• GPLv3 now dominates at Google Code #oscon(Jul 27, 2010)
• The GPLv3 in Plain English – The Parts Microsoft Worries About(Mar 31, 2010)
• GIMP to go (L)GPL3(Aug 18, 2009)
• Canola Project's GPLv3 Permissions are Worth a Look(Jun 04, 2009)
• Debian Takes AGPL Software into Main(Dec 05, 2008)