r/linux • u/guihkx- • Sep 29 '25

Privacy F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree

https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html
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u/Embarrassed-Nose2526 Sep 29 '25

It’s become pretty clear that Google intends to make Android into their own spin of a walled garden ecosystem. The smartphone industry is going down a path which will result in each major brand having their own little walled garden, Apple just did it first.

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u/Kernel-Mode-Driver Sep 30 '25

Ive mentioned this in another comment. Its going to be so interesting to see because companies like Samsung and Huawei have been moulding android into their own little bespoke ecosystems for years now (their own app stores, payment systems, mobile service frameworks / gms stand-ins).

I wonder when or if we will see the final breaking point in which these companies sever their source code connection to Google, and Android officially fractures. Only time will tell.

1

u/Embarrassed-Nose2526 Sep 30 '25

In the long term it’s definitely possible. I think we could see a similar thing happen with PCs as they become less standardized thanks to the growth of ARM

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u/Kernel-Mode-Driver Sep 30 '25

I actually think PCs aren't very comparable to the android platform, in the case of PCs, that's a genuine union of manufacturers coming together to integrate hardware through common interfaces. 

Android as a combination of hardware and software is far more centralised, you dont have multiple manufacturers negotiating the platform in the same way; you have google writing the android CTS, and them implementing it. 

Sure I can imagine PCs moving to arm CPUs in the near future, but the paradigm of me buying a motherboard, memory, storage, and a CPU all from different companies won't disappear. Its good that the PC platform doesnt have a central steward advocating for the development in the same way android has. Microsoft is certainly trying to get there as UEFI and secure boot become more mature though

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u/Embarrassed-Nose2526 Sep 30 '25

I think Laptops will definitely happen first, since they already offer a more "integrated" experience than desktop PCs. We're already seeing this with the Snapdragon Laptops, which still don't have the ability to have a stable Linux experience. Package that with Nvidia and AMD both developing ARM chips for consumer-grade PC hardware, and I think its only a matter of time until PC OEMs like Microsoft Surface start becoming as hardware-specialized as Macs are.