www/philosophy android-and-users-freedom.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       14/08/13 03:39:28

Modified files:
        philosophy     : android-and-users-freedom.html 

Log message:
        Sometimes replace "phone" with "device".
        Clarify about CyanogenMod.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/android-and-users-freedom.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.46&r2=1.47

Patches:
Index: android-and-users-freedom.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/android-and-users-freedom.html,v
retrieving revision 1.46
retrieving revision 1.47
diff -u -b -r1.46 -r1.47
--- android-and-users-freedom.html      11 Aug 2014 15:42:27 -0000      1.46
+++ android-and-users-freedom.html      13 Aug 2014 03:39:27 -0000      1.47
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
 Android is &ldquo;<a href="/philosophy/free-open-overlap.html">open</a>&rdquo;,
 but whether it allows users to be free.</p>
 
-<p>Android is an operating system primarily for mobile phones, which
+<p>Android is an operating system primarily for mobile phones and
+other devices, which
 consists of Linux (Torvalds' kernel), some libraries, a Java platform
 and some applications. Linux aside, the software of Android versions
 1 and 2 was mostly developed by Google; Google released it under the
@@ -140,9 +141,10 @@
 
 <p><a href="http://replicant.us";>Replicant</a> is the free version of
 Android.  The Replicant developers have replaced many nonfree
-libraries, for certain phone models.  The nonfree apps are excluded,
+libraries, for certain device models.  The nonfree apps are excluded,
 but you certainly don't want to use those.  By contrast, CyanogenMod
-(another modified version of Android) is not free.</p>
+(another modified version of Android) is nonfree, as it contains some
+nonfree programs.</p>
 
 <p>Some Android devices are &ldquo;tyrants&rdquo;: they are designed so users
 cannot install and run their own modified software, only the versions
@@ -169,13 +171,13 @@
 Malicious features are unacceptable no matter how they are
 implemented.</p>
 
-<p>On most Android phones, this firmware has so much control that it
+<p>On most Android devices, this firmware has so much control that it
 could turn the product into a listening device. On some, it controls
 the microphone. On some, it can take full control of the main
 computer, through shared memory, and can thus override or replace
 whatever free software you have installed. With some, perhaps all,
 models it is possible to exercise remote control of this firmware to
-overwrite the rest of the software in the phone. The point of free
+overwrite the rest of the software in the device.  The point of free
 software is that we have control of our software and our computing;
 a system with a back door doesn't qualify. While any computing system
 might <em>have</em> bugs, these devices can <em>be</em> bugs. (Craig
@@ -185,7 +187,7 @@
 that remotely converted an unsuspecting target's non-Android portable
 phone into a listening device.)</p>
 
-<p>In any case, the phone network firmware in an Android device is not
+<p>In any case, the phone network firmware in an Android phone is not
 equivalent to a circuit, because the hardware allows installation of
 new versions and this is actually done. Since it is proprietary
 firmware, in practice only the manufacturer can make new
@@ -224,9 +226,9 @@
 software portable phone, but there is a long way to go, and Google is
 taking it in the wrong direction.  Hackers are working
 on <a href="http://replicant.us";>Replicant</a>, but it's a big job to
-support a new phone model, and there remains the problem of the
+support a new device model, and there remains the problem of the
 firmware. Even though the Android phones of today are considerably
-less bad than Apple or Windows smartphones, they cannot be said to
+less bad than Apple or Windows phones, they cannot be said to
 respect your freedom.</p>
 
 <!-- If needed, change the copyright block at the bottom. In general,
@@ -274,7 +276,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2014/08/11 15:42:27 $
+$Date: 2014/08/13 03:39:27 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>