As was said several times in the discussion, "open" can mean a lots of things. Here are a few ways in which Android is open (compared to other systems) - in no particular order
A/ The code is Open Source B/ Apps can be installed from any source, instead of only the "official" app store C/ Anyone can create an app: for instance you don't need to acquire certificates from a particular authority, etc. to distribute an app D/ Apps can be developed on a range of systems: Linux, Apple, Windows (probably more, since the tooling is based on Eclipse) E/ The platform itself is very open, with powerful APIs: for instance it is possible to replace the "Home" app or the "Contacts" app with another one, or you can replace the visual keyboard. Even the "call" app can be replaced (look at Google Voice or Tango) F/ It is open in the sense that the fate of the project is not decided by Google only but by the Open Handset Alliance, which is an alliance of 78 companies G/ Other than the source, other aspects of the project are visible, such as the bug tracker and the gerrit code review tool - also some members of the Android team are active on various mailing lists, IRC, StackOverflow H/ It is open in the sense that it is not limited to one vendor or one carrier I/ [not the Android platform per se] Some Android devices are open in the sense that it is possible to replace the system with another version or even another OS entirely, for instance the Nexus One J/ This is probably arcane but it is possible to program for Android in various languages, for instance in C# with MonoDroid and in Scala (theoretically any "JVM language" should be usable) – there are also various "app generator" solutions like Titanium or App Inventor K/ It is open to certain other technologies, like Flash ;) I'm sure I'm missing other possible meanings of "open" for Android. Of course most of these items can be mitigated in a way or another. Most importantly, and as Joe pointed out, “open” does not necessarily mean “better”! BoD -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
