Android's Success a Threat To Free Software?

Glyn Moody writes "Two years after its launch, Google's Linux-based Android platform is finally making its presence felt in the world of smartphones. Around 20,000 apps have been written for it. Although well behind the iPhone's tally, that's significantly more than just a few months ago. But there's a problem: few of these Android apps are free software. Instead, we seem to be witnessing the birth of a new hybrid stack — open source underneath, and proprietary on top. If, as many believe, mobile phones will become the main computing platform for most of the world, that could be a big problem for the health of the free software ecosystem. So what, if anything, should the community be doing about it?"

Re:The obvious answer

[Anonymous Coward]

Bah Java

They could have used Not Det

I'll get my coat

Re:This is silly

[Enderandrew]

Don't tell anyone, but Android is Linux. It's a huge secret!

Re:Uh...build your own free app?

[onefriedrice]

Exactly, and big part of the reason theres so many apps already is because innovation is greatly driven by money and many people want to jump in.

What kind of blasphemy is this? Everybody knows the government drives innovation, not independent players in a market scenario.

Re:Uh...build your own free app?

[oatworm]

All right... all right... but apart from the computer and the space shuttle and the internet and atomic power and better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what has the government done for us?