this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
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Technology

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[–] Mihies@programming.dev 28 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As an EU citizen I'd say this should be a wakeup call to push for an alternative and open OS.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Fairphone with Linage or e/OS, the best EU alternatives

[–] atopi@piefed.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i have a feeling android is not the best alternative to android

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

That is nonsense, Android is OpenSource, based on Linux, adapted to mobile, but with APIs controlled by Google, Linage, e/OS, Ubuntu Touch, etc...... are other distros of Linux for Mobile, compatible with Android apps. There Google can do nothing to avoid the use of not approved apps, like it can do it in Android due it's inbuild APIs and banning those from Google Play, which other OS don't have or use. Because of this I also don't like GrapheneOS, because it works only on Google Phones, which can block apps on HW base if Google want it. In other Phones, eg.FairPhone with own idependent OS, there Google see only the middle finger.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i get the feeling that both lineage and graphene are only temporary measures; locking down android is only the first step and google will push for further lockdown eventually.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They literally have no power over the ROMs lol

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

the phone makers do and they'll do whatever google wants them to do.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nope. Just reinstall the OS. It's no different than laptops

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago

but it's got A LOT caveats compared to normal bios based systems and many manufacturers are locking them down.

[–] onlooker@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What this basically is is signees asking Google to fix the problem that Google itself caused. I hope for other people's sake that this goes through, but since we're talking about Google, I am all but convinced that Google will pull something like this again in the future.

[–] slampisko@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah I'm not holding my breath for this letter to do anything. I also find it funny that many projects among the signatures are probably the reasons for Google to be doing this in the first place (like FUTO, makers of GrayJay) since it could be argued that they are costing Google revenue and that's ultimately what they care about.

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

You don't need Google's permission to host your own web application. Browsers and the internet are awesome. The Google play store is a nuisance and I look forward to the day when I can have a Linux distribution running on my phone with everything I need.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 1 month ago

Eh, good riddance to gapps