[ Thanks to steve
hill for this link. ]
“I am typing this as I am finally connected in shell to
my Android phone. The prompt reminds me that it’s based on the
Linux kernel (it’s free), the Dalvik virtual machine (it’s free),
and free libraries. Millions of Android devices are shipped every
day, each one is a Linux system. Today, it’s phone. Soon, it will
be tablets: Android 3.0 (coming out at the end of the year) will
finally be very suitable for tablets. Apple alone will have to face
fierce competition on pretty much every front. Microsoft…
who? They are more irrelevant every day. I should be happy, right?
Well, sort of. Looking back at how long it took me to get this
shell prompt makes me worried. Very worried. We are heading towards
a world where we no longer own the hardware we buy — and
there is no point in having free software if you can’t own your
hardware.”