Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line? [LWN.net]

Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?

Posted Mar 21, 2011 0:32 UTC (Mon) by rsidd (subscriber, #2582)
In reply to: Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line? by vonbrand
Parent article: Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?

Which isn't news and isn't a GPL violation. FreeBSD's linuxulator has been doing exactly this for a while, if I understand right. It isn't complete but runs a lot of proprietary Linux binaries very well.

Actually, I wonder why Google didn't just go with BSD, as Apple did. But one assumes their lawyers are thoroughly satisfied with what they did...

(Log in to post comments)

Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?

Posted Mar 21, 2011 0:38 UTC (Mon) by swetland (subscriber, #63414) [Link]

The Linux vs BSD decision was made before Google acquired Android.

While starting with NetBSD's kernel was tempting, the Linux kernel wasn't that much larger (one of the concerns), had quite a lot of support from silicon vendors and OEMs, and a larger developer community (easier to find folks with Linux kernel expertise).

The bright line between the kernel and userspace drawn by the statement at the top of the Linux COPYING file was certainly helpful in making this decision. Explaining that the kernel is GPLv2 and userspace is Apache2/BSD/MIT is something easily understood by OEMs, and most OEMs don't have a problem with the general idea that the kernel is not where you differentiate your products.

- Brian

Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?

Posted Mar 21, 2011 4:19 UTC (Mon) by b7j0c (subscriber, #27559) [Link]

i don't find these reasons compelling

had google gone with netbsd or freebsd, the "expertise" issues would be very far back in the rearview mirror by now. there was a huge pent-up demand for something to compete with iOS...people would have figured out what was needed and moved forward.

likewise with java (dalvik, whatever). google also flubbed this decision and whether there substance to the oracle complaint or not, it is just one more distraction that will keep google from concentrating on making great software.

apple demonstrated that a great product can overcome mindshare and educational issues...how many current iOS devs had ever touched objectiveC before buying an ipone?

Has Bionic stepped over the GPL line?

Posted Mar 21, 2011 4:41 UTC (Mon) by swetland (subscriber, #63414) [Link]

Compelling or no, there they are.

Do keep in mind that Android predates any public knowledge of iPhone by several years and that also came into being as a startup, not necessarily expecting to have the kind of impact up front that a company like Google might have.

Either way, I believe choosing the Linux kernel has turned out to be a good decision. We're happy with it technically and that's what matters the most. The platform's doing quite well -- I believe the latest figures we've mentioned publicly (during Eric's keynote at MWC) are 170 compatible devices, 27 OEMs, 169 carriers, 69 countries, and over 350,000 new devices being activated each day.

I've seen a lot of doom and gloom predicted from the moment we announced the platform and the SDK in late 2007 all the way through present day, but so far things have gone well despite the doomsaying.

- Brian