Android Is As Open As The Clenched Fist I’d Like To Punch The Carriers With
In the end, it's our fault for electing people that refuse to regulate the cell phone carriers properly.  Or, it's our fault for doing business with them.  There are some countries where carriers are not allowed to include un-uninstallable apps.  But not the US.  Why?  Because consumers in the US don't care about anything but a low, low price.<p>Right now, Android is the only popular mobile OS that you can clone from git, build, and install on some piece of hardware.  All hardware?  Nope.  But some?  Yes.  This means it's basically open.  Just because someone sells you a box you're not allowed to open doesn't mean that all boxes are un-openable, after all.<p>I had no trouble hacking my EVO 4G, deleting the stock OS with HTC and Sprint crapware, and installing a build with 100% open code.  While it's not possible to do this with <i>every</i> Android phone ever made, it's not possible to do it with <i>any</i> iOS or Symbian or WebOS device.  This makes Android the most open; and after the industry has been closed tight for 20+ years, it is quite refreshing.  We haven't achieved perfection yet, but Android is the only software stack bringing us closer.<p>(Remember commercial UNIXes?  Neither do I.  Linux and Free/Open/NetBSD relegated them to a very tiny niche market.  Android is the beginning of this for mobile; you don't just wake up one day, free of the oppression of closed hardware and proprietary software.  It takes time and effort, and Google is leading the way right now.  Someone else will build on this in the future, and things will become even more open.)