It's also incredible that you still don't comprehend that Google cannot update an OS created by another OEM. When you allow an OEM to create their own OS only they can update it. Your Windows comparison is also flawed because OEM's do not build the OS - they're given the binaries from Microsoft and cannot change them.
This is, as with every time you've posted it, a complete fiction. Android doesn't become "not Google's OS" because of the shoddy distribution method in use, and Google still does dictate to OEMs what does and doesn't qualify for release, as Google still has effectively complete control of the ecosystem via the MADA/Play Store license.
Your reply doesn't make sense and you have not answered how it's technically possible for Google to update an OS created by another OEM. Google does not have the source code for the OEM's changes so to expect Google to update their OS would be impossible. It's like asking Debian to update Ubuntu.
Android, as distributed, isn't really "open source" in the way you seem to be defining it already: It contains proprietary packages which contain spyware, and OEMs are beholden to Google's requirements with regards to what they can and can't do with the platform. And it is possible for something to be open source (i.e., the source code is public), and still only permitted in an unchanged fashion.
As it is today, Google requires Android devices pass the CTS, or Compatibility Test Suite, in order to be eligible to have their proprietary apps, like the Google Play Store, on the device. In the future this will likely simply be another requirement to pass, that Google can push their own updates to the OS layer.
The reality is, the idea that someone like Google can write code, and then be unable to push security fixes to it, is patently insane. In 2017, this is completely unacceptable. The idea that an OEM or carrier should be responsible for, or able to interfere with security updates to the OS developer's code is simply not okay.
I am a big fan of open source software and customization, but the current situation, where 0.5% of Android devices run the latest version of the OS, is completely unacceptable, and any compromise or cost required to fix that is justified.
There's a reasonable chance Android will lose some OEMs over the change, and that is fine. Google needs to focus on security over profit here, and accept that they might lose a little market share to do the right thing and protect their customers' safety.
No, what he has said is not true, starting for the farcical claim about spyware and ending with the little fact that the OP was talking about Android and ocdtrekkie mixed the proprietary Google apps
> No, what he has said is not true, starting for the farcical claim about spyware
Uhm, have you heard of SafetyNet? Even if you ignore the stuff Google is doing, we know for a fact that all cellphone basebands contain code to turn them into listening devices and have universal backdoors.
Ever since Snowden blew the lid on this stuff you can't claim that any of this is "farcical".
> Even if you ignore the stuff Google is doing, we know for a fact that all cellphone basebands contain code to turn them into listening devices and have universal backdoors.
What has to do that with the OP claim that Google puts spyware?
All of Google Play Services qualifies as spyware, but SafetyNet is the most obvious example. It literally does "diagnostics" on your phone and uploads them to Google so they can track information about your phone. Under what definition of the term "spyware" are you operating. I mean, they constantly upload your current location with the greatest accuracy we have ever invented for GPS for pete's sake.
Just because your vendor installed it for you in the first place doesn't stop it from being spyware. And just because Google are portrayed as the "good guys" doesn't mean they're immune from doing incredibly scummy bullshit.
Google Play Services meets all the definitions of spyware. It's built to collect data on your usage and track your location and report it to a third party for their own interests. It's nearly impossible to fully remove, and it has replaced critical parts of core applications so you can't remove it without crippling your own ability to use the device.
I get that you're a fan, but it's impossible to define it any other way.
And as always, remember that any data Google can collect, the government can collect through them. They have no legal ability to resist those requests. So, your precise location history at all times? Yeah, that's an open book.
