Cutting Off The Root: The Future Of Community Developed Android

[ Thanks to An
Anonymous Reader for this link. ]

“As Android is essentially a Linux variant, it inherits the root
user concept and the idea that the device?s owner shouldn?t
necessarily have absolute control over the hardware. It was this
limitation specifically that lead early Android users to seek out a
way of running applications as root on their devices. This allowed
for many applications that wouldn?t otherwise have been possible,
such as overclocking the processor or using the device as a WiFi
access point. This ability has been able to breathe new life into
older devices, and has been a staple of the custom ROM community
for years.

“Android ROMs which include root-level access (known as ‘rooted
ROMs’) have employed a system very similar to what the desktop
Linux distributions have been doing: prompting the user when an
application is requesting higher than normal permissions to perform
an action. It is designed to give the device user a very clear
indication that something is happening on their device which needs
their attention.”

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