By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/06/2026In other words, even though Google offered a mobile platform that was (mostly) *technically* open, they used *commercial* and *legal* strategies to choke off the market oxygen for alternative Android versions that tried to capitalize on that technical openness. 21/ 1120
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/06/2026But life finds a way. The existence of an open, modifiable, tinkerer-friendly mobile operating system meant Android hackers could create alternatives to Google's (de facto) walled garden, which thrived in the cracks in that garden wall. 22/ 180
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/06/2026Operating systems like CalyxOS, PureOS and Graphene offered a more private, more secure Android experience, one that was largely "de-Googled," blocking Google's relentless acquisition of your private data: grapheneos.org 23/grapheneos.orgGrapheneOS: the private and secure mobile OSGrapheneOS is a security and privacy focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility. 1133