Hello! to anyone who might read this
First off, let me tell you a tiny bit about myself (Bare with me here).
My name is Christian, I'm 19 and I'm an intern at an IT-section. I've been working here for a year already - Each year interns are to write two individual papers about different subjects. My last paper was a virtual Windows Server 2003 Server Park Environment for another company. This year my first paper is on Android.
My place of work supports other workplaces, such as schools, the hospital, social workers, basically everything. With next-gen phones and new OS' out - Naturally, we're upgrading. The question is what OS to go with. That's why I was asked to create a paper on Android, showing how a work-phone could be. Not all of the details have been planned out yet, but it goes something like this:
- Create a ROM with the necessary applications
- Strip the ROM of anything ..unnecessary (Could be anything, Gapps even).
- Choose/Develope a Launcher that can work pretty much out-of-the-box without having to customize too much.
That's pretty much all the information I've been given for now. I've been given a HTC Desire to 'play around with'. I've been told we're going to have a meeting about it soon. The reason I'm creating this thread is to give myself sort of a roadmap, I guess. And I'd love your opinions on how I can best do this, what I should base my ROM on and anything else you might think I need to know.
Peace.
It's a great idea for a workplace to go with android for employees given the ability to create more secure levels of access since it's based on linux. Also the ability to tailor the OS and UI to suite the needs of the business are something that's desired more and more these days. The downfalls you'll have to overcome are battery power (stripped down OS could nix that) and the fact that most companies will lean more towards Blackberry for two main reasons.
First is security, lets face it, Google is the internet for the most part and a lot of people fear the unknown such as where does their data go and what's done with it. Is it erased (securely)? Is it shared and what about data leaks?
Also, even though I love Android, for a business setting Blackberry has everything right. Android lacks in the 'push' area by a longshot and (from what I've seen) Blackberry supports more email protocals. Let's not forget when you're emailing all day or writing a paper a physical keyboard is more desired, a lot of Android phones lack that.
If the correct phones were chosen and (with a custom ROM and apps) the right measures were taken to address the push issue, plus maybe some sort of native encryption to ease security concerns - I think you could make a very valid argument to use Android phones for their employees. Android beats the othe OS types by a longshot, you just have to address those small but major issues.
Using Android as platform for devices inside an organization makes a lot of sense.
I disagree with KCRic about the superiority of BlackBerry on push and mail systems compatibility. Remember that BB requires you to use a secondary server to "translate" your Exchange, Notes, GroupWise or whatever you have to the devices.
Agree 100% in terms of the keyboard issue.
Something Android has on its side is that Google is the internet. Android was designed from the bottom up to be a "connected" platform. This means mobile devices with ample access to databases and hosted applications. If a business is still wondering if the data on the cloud is the solution, they may not be here on the next decade.
Believe me, you don't find many devices with VPN support, something that is already supported on most Android ROMs. Secure connections and a secure local storage can be easily achieved, the tools are already there.
Think also not only on phones but many other devices (tablets, kiosks, etc) that can benefit from this idea.
I think the major obstacle will be to convince the service provider to let your organization put customized ROMs on the devices. They will panic. Maybe if your agreement says that you provide the support. I already have to go through some of this (on a different initiative) and it is not easy.
KCRic was right about blackberry .... was. The Droid Pro puts that puppy to bed for good, I think. To the OP, your company needs to take back that desire and get ahold of a Droid pro for you. That'll be the (as of right now) best device for workplace use and give you the best launch-off point.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Thank you gentlemen, I appreciate your input!
My company will most likely be standardizing on the Desire Z as the 'top notch' phone - And some sort of first level entry phone for employees that don't need aweesomesauce features. I've begun dissecting my own ROM using dsiXDA's kitchen. If my company is going to settle on Android as a platform I will have to build the ROM from source, though. Seeing as when I'm finished with my internship someone else will have to continue development on the ROM.
Right now I'm going to dissect a couple of ROMS. My place of work wants to see which of the two fits best for us: AOSP or Sense. I'm an AOSP man myself but Sense is easier to use for 'newbies' and it's also easier to configure too look-and-work-just-like-this, if that makes sense. THANKFULLY dxiXDA's kitchen exists so the workload isn't .. ****ty just yet.
Again, thank you for your input!
zHk3R said:
Thank you gentlemen, I appreciate your input!
My company will most likely be standardizing on the Desire Z as the 'top notch' phone - And some sort of first level entry phone for employees that don't need aweesomesauce features. I've begun dissecting my own ROM using dsiXDA's kitchen. If my company is going to settle on Android as a platform I will have to build the ROM from source, though. Seeing as when I'm finished with my internship someone else will have to continue development on the ROM.
Right now I'm going to dissect a couple of ROMS. My place of work wants to see which of the two fits best for us: AOSP or Sense. I'm an AOSP man myself but Sense is easier to use for 'newbies' and it's also easier to configure too look-and-work-just-like-this, if that makes sense. THANKFULLY dxiXDA's kitchen exists so the workload isn't .. ****ty just yet.
Again, thank you for your input!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't want the employees messing around with their phones, I'd definately exclude the Market app (Vending.apk) and include the apps of which you believe they are necessary. There's just to much crap in the market and even if it isn't meant to damage your phone, it still can do some damage if you put too much apps with the same functions on it. Experience? Yes, with my X10. The thing was damn slow until I removed a whole bunch of apps.
Related
I have some ideas for a heavily customized Android tablet for an industrial use. Most of the customizations involve taking things OUT and locking stuff down, durability a plus as well.
I sent a couple emails to Chinese companies but didn't get any response, and am also a bit worried about them stealing my ideas and running with 'em.
Any pointers/advice?
When your idea is greater then great then can you register your idea with patents.
But you need to know that patents are realy expensive and some company's copy all things what they see.
You can better search for a buddy who has knowledge for manufacture in China or an other cheap country.
know that big companies like Foxxcon make only big orders.
Yep, that's pretty much where I'm at right now. Not sure of how to proceed patent-wise and not really wanting to work with Chinese companies either way.
Cheap isn't paramount for this application, if anybody knows of any more local resources for android hardware I could talk to...
Only have time for a real quick reply right now to a very deep topic...
I would say your best bet is to look into various 'open source' models. Look at the the DIYdrone community. You can get Android running on a little ARM processor. Or for a turnkey dev solution:
liquidware.com/shop/show/BB-AND-DEV/Android+Hardware+Development+Kit
Throw it in a Pelican case and you've got yourself a proof-of-concept. Which is what you're gonna need to raise any venture capitol if you pick that route...
As far as patents... this can also get you some credibility with venture capitalists... you can file a patent yourself for pretty cheap but don't expect it to hold against any big boys though...
Good luck, there's a lot to learn, making a bunch of Engineering/Programming/Business friends and having your girl pick the outfit before the big pitch!
Cheers
Android on a chip
Hi koob,
Thanks for the useful reply. Do you have any additional tips on getting Android running on the simplest circuit possible?
Using phones for development is possible but not ideal as we're using some of the newer features of the OS (e.g. ADK), and unlocked phones supporting it are somewhat expensive.
I'm interested in two stages, prototyping (I couldn't find much in the DIYDrones community on this), and manufacturing (maybe companies like Shenzhen Xinkenmingteng Industry Technology on Alibaba could take a functional spec or a PCB design?).
Many thanks for your help.
Bump! I would also be interested in hearing more about this, as we want to develop a custom mobile monitoring device, using Android so as to save us the effort of writing firmware for the wireless communications, display, touchscreen, etc. Like TheCritic, we're interested in locking it down - replacing the OS's main functionality with some skin or app we write ourselves.
The Liquidware Android Hardware Development Kit is interesting, but has many things we don't need and misses a few things we do. We're just not sure where to begin choosing the hardware and working with the kernel, device drivers, etc. Any pointers would be very appreciated.
Any progress here?
I have a pretty similar situation. Having a cool idea that would need only a few features from android. Did you develop your platform? Or found someone who did it for you?
Nothing other than what's seen here, though there were more useful replies than I'd remembered to this thread!
Alright here's the deal. I have an app idea for a game that I plan on creating that is very simple, and I have a good feeling it will take off. My worries is that developing it will almost be pointless because of the lax android market policy. I am a new programmer, so my worry is I will make the app pretty decent, and some more experienced programmer will be able to duplicate it and make it better. This just doesn't seem right. I know this happens all the time (Fruit Slice, for example, is a Fruit Ninja knockoff and it's free).
Android is a love it/ hate it relationship. Users love being able to download just as good of knockoffs for free, but I'm sure this is a major turn off for developers who worked hard on their original idea's, just to have it undercut by another developer who will offer a similar (or even better app) for free. Part of me wishes I could just develop it for iOS, but I don't have a Mac or iPhone, and don't ever plan on getting one.
My question is, is there anyway to stop it? Like a patent, or something similar? This is my major hesitation to developing for android. I know I'm not going to be the best programmer out there, but it's the idea that make the apps, and that's where I feel like (I'm sure a lot of other people do too) I could do some contributing. Let me know how you guys feel about this
Anybody? 10Char
welcome to programming for any platform. There are (free) alternatives to almost every single program (android-based, windows-based, etc...)
I think you're in a very bad place to ask about that question. Programmers are usually not at all fond of patents since they tend to be overly broad, hard to detect and generally of low quality. (In case you haven't noticed that's also my opinion)
But yes, if that's what you want to do, a patent would be the way to go. Copyright protects your code, but not your idea.
Make it free. Put ads on it. If it takes off make an iOS one
Sent from my MOTWX435KT using XDA App
As far as I can remember, from my Intellectual Property Law class, software (i.e. apps) cannot be the subject of a patent. But of course, this changes from country to country.
Here are some links you might want to read up on:
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/patents_faq.html#software
http://www.freibrun.com/articles/articl2.htm
Computer-based inventions... yeah, they're not supposed to be patentable: Not in the US and even less in the EU. The key point is how computer-based inventions is defined. The standard way around it is simply to patent "a machine doing XY" instead of "XY"
Basically, the patent clerks don't check for anything but formalities. I used to help out on the peertopatent platform, but it just became ridicolous because the clerks would let everything through no matter what prior art or explanations of obviousness we provided.
Patenting is the worst thing you can do. Don't you read all the patent BS going around lately? Also, spending money on a patent won't be enough, you'll also need to spent money enforcing it, and you won't make any friends by being a litigator.
All you can do is provide the best product you can come up with and hope for the best. If someone makes something similar but better, well, you'll just have to work harder. Or drop the whole thing.
But as others have said, you'll have this problem on *all* platforms. A practical example, when Nero released their burning app for Linux, my thought was "This is kinda cool, but why would I pay for Nero, when there's K3B and other apps that to the job, but are open source and free?"
The trick is to provide something others don't have. In the case of NeroLinux it's familiarity for ex-Windows folks or dual-booters. In your case it could be more features, better graphics, easier to navigate interface, regularly provided additional content... something in that direction.
I just don't get this nonsense. I get why companies are screwing this all up but what I don't get is why we all continue to allow this. The Android update process is broken and there have been a flood of articles on the net talking about the subject. Not one that I have read has come even close to the right solution. Really testing what little faith I have left in the human race. Why so dramatic? Because we have been using the model for our Windows PC for years and yet in somebody's great wisdom chose what we have here and now. Cmon!
Could you imagine getting your Windows PC updates from Time Warner Cable? What a disaster that would be right? What do you think would happen with our PC updates? Exactly what we are dealing with right now on Android. I just don't see what the problem is. Google develops and distributes the OS and updates directly to the end user. The phone manufacturer supplies the appropriate drivers on their website and the carrier keeps their greasy mitts off my phone. Win win for everyone.
I posted this because I think its the best solution. Its better than what we have now that's for sure. What I'm hoping to get out of this post is that you either agree with me or you have a better solution we can all get behind and push for. I know the Windows way isn't perfect and some things will have to be done differently but we don't need to be concerned with all the details. In other words for Example.....Dear Verizon, Samsung, Google. This is how we want out updates. Just get it done and deal with it.
Full Disclosure: Yeah I'm posting this because I'm pretty heated this hasn't been seriously addressed yet. I'm heated more people aren't pushing for more of a Windows update process. I'm heated because I bought a Galaxy Nexus this time around to avoid this and still getting screwed. I'm heated because All my phones have greater potential and we are proving it here at XDA everyday.
One more thought. We really shouldn't be buying our hardware from the carriers either. All any of them have proven so far is that they can run a pretty stable dumb pipe. Every other venture has failed. Like Vcast. I just dont trust them with what may soon replace my wallet among many other things. It could very well be our most personal possessions in these times and they control every aspect we allow them to. It needs to stop. What do you think? Do you want the windows way? Or do you have a better idea?
Long term there are definitely some issues that need to be fixed with Android.
Bloatware is one of the things that annoys me, and judging from the reviews left on Google Play, it annoys everybody. I'm fine with them preinstalling crap on my phone even though I don't like it, PC OEMs have been doing this for years. But it should be completely uninstallable without root.
For OS updates I see no reason why minor versions (ex: 2.3.6 to 2.3.7) can't be distributed from Google to all phones. These updates shouldn't affect drivers and would be similar to Windows Updates. But more people are concerned with major version updates which can't be done this way as they involve driver and/or kernel updates.
Google has a very hands off policy when it comes to Android it seems. OEMs are given a lot of freedom and Google doesn't do much to help them bring updates quickly. This hands off approach may have been a good business model in the early days of Android when Google just wanted to get it out there by any means possible, but I think they need to be more involved now. They should allow OEMs in on development earlier by giving them access to early builds of the next version similar to how Microsoft does. The reason PC OEMs get the newest version on their systems so quickly is because OEMs and hardware manufacturers get to use betas even before the public can. This model may not work on Android, but I really think Google needs to reassess their stance on Android, its not 2009 anymore.
This sort of issues with android is holding back...a lot of companies like presonus (pro audio) dont even bother with developing controlling software for their hardware on android...
Its a shame because we have some very capable hardware but ať least with apple **** they do the work once and it works...
If they were to make applications and have to deal with different hardware and screen resolutions they wouldnt have time to do their job..
A shame that oné day i might have to buy an iPad because of them
the long and short of it is no, at the moment they cant. Windows works because it is a modular kernel which allows for drivers to be installed and therefore easy customisations to be made. Linux is a monolithic kernel which means it needs all drivers for all configurations of hardware in it and then it uses the ones it needs. Android uses the linux kernel so it is difficult to support all the different kinds of hardware on phones in one kernel without it getting huge and hard to manage.
That is before you get to the need to have basebands/amss working with the kernel to provide mobile phone connection and hardware management. You also need bootloaders, recovery consoles etc to work on every phone. Only once those components are in place can you start to talk about keeping the android system up to date on top of those.
Google can't do it all unless they start over and make tools that are compatible with all kinds of hardware.
The easiest way is probably to make a google certification requirement that all manufacturers must support phones through 2-3 major update cycles. That does mean the end of cheap phones and lots of different and smaller niche products though.
Personally I think that the new hardware requirements for ICS are going to mean the end of ldpi and maybe even mdpi android phones as well as anything without a gpu, less than 512mb of ram and a 1ghz or so cpu. Maybe once the hardware becomes a bit more uniform, it will start to get easier to keep up to date too.
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Greetings All
Having played with android now for some time Im am suprised that nobody that I am aware of is offering any true full disc encryption for Android.
There are "Security Suites" that offer remote wipe etc but I myself dont consider this to be true security.
RIM has offered full disc encryption and wipe to disc capability for years. Yet Android still doesnt truly have this capability (I am aware the latest versions do have weak so called encryption capability). Android devices certainly have the power to run encryption.
And with Whyspersys having been acquired by Twitter that doesnt seem to be a viable option any longer. Besides, they only really offered encryption for two models of phones.
There has been a DARPA request for this, so somebody must be working on it....
So, my questions are:
Why isnt there any stand alone encryption software available? It cant be that hard to create given that its already been available on other types of handsets that could be considered inferior and less powerful. Blackberry handsets have had full disc encryption with wipe to disc capability for years.
Why havent the larger companies (ie symantec etc) offered it? I believe it would be economically viable as there are many that would buy it particularly if it sold as outside of the Google Market and could be managed from the desktop.
For that matter, why hasnt some whippersnapper wrote a program say even at 168 encryption? Again, it cant be that difficult?
Perfect package in my mind would be 256 AES two fish (or 168), sold on a disc rather than the online market, and come with a desktop manager.
Thanks, for any comments-
I know there's encryption inside ICS natively, but I don't know how strong it is.
endeavour123 said:
I know there's encryption inside ICS natively, but I don't know how strong it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not very strong or effective.
Easily defeated with cellex, celbrite, JTAG etc as is iOS etc.
Unfortunately BBerry is the only handset to offer amazing encryption and wipe to disc encryption. Which why Im amazed nobody else does, or that DARPA has to appeal to the community at large in order to solve this....
Most products address end to end encryption of calls, txt, email etc and location options.
Remote wipe is NOT a true solution if you are carrying important data for business if industrial espionage is a consideration let alone 4th Amendment rights.
I love Android devices, but still....
wallflood said:
Not very strong or effective.
Easily defeated with cellex, celbrite, JTAG etc as is iOS etc.
Unfortunately BBerry is the only handset to offer amazing encryption and wipe to disc encryption. Which why Im amazed nobody else does, or that DARPA has to appeal to the community at large in order to solve this....
Most products address end to end encryption of calls, txt, email etc and location options.
Remote wipe is NOT a true solution if you are carrying important data for business if industrial espionage is a consideration let alone 4th Amendment rights.
I love Android devices, but still....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest no matter what you do as long as android is built using an open source platform you will never be able to compare it to a device that was made for business.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2
zelendel said:
To be honest no matter what you do as long as android is built using an open source platform you will never be able to compare it to a device that was made for business.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you clarify this argument? In my oppinion Open source is the key to secure encryption. The more people are able so review the source code and the encryption algorithms, the less exploits will be able to stay unfound.
zelendel said:
To be honest no matter what you do as long as android is built using an open source platform you will never be able to compare it to a device that was made for business.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I understand where you are coming from, but I respectfully disagree with that position.
Having been a BB user for several years, I think Android OS is superior in all ways.
But I think the OS, not having come from one company with one goal in mind, is what put Android OS in this position.
As well as the overall obsssion with the collection of tech date by companies and governments, I cant help but feel developers are actually discouraged from creating encryption programs that secure handsets and tablets-
...Interestingly, DARPA is releasing a secure version of Android OS and is open source so the public can view it.
And the NSA is revealing its SE Android, also open source.
But these versions of the OS focus on being able to store and transmit.recieve classified information.
They also focus on limiting permissions of apps.
For general public use (and Enterprise use) it would be nice to just have a system that was encrypted to disc, and could wipe to disc-
I Know
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Moving to Q&A
Please elaborate
Not very strong or effective.
Easily defeated with cellex, celbrite, JTAG etc as is iOS etc.
Unfortunately BBerry is the only handset to offer amazing encryption and wipe to disc encryption. Which why Im amazed nobody else does, or that DARPA has to appeal to the community at large in order to solve this....
Most products address end to end encryption of calls, txt, email etc and location options.
Remote wipe is NOT a true solution if you are carrying important data for business if industrial espionage is a consideration let alone 4th Amendment rights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure where your info is coming from.
As of Android 2.3.4 device encryption has been available. Granted most manufactures didn't implement the ability very quickly. I have two GB devices niether give me an option to encrypt my device on the stock ROMs, but some did. I am running 4.1.2, and encryption is as full as it gets. If I boot into CWM recovery I can adb into a minimal root shell, but the revocery partition doesn't "see" any of the actual data. I think this suffices. As far as circumventing this encryption, I don't think a JTAG or cellebrite will help you with this. As of Android 3.0 (tablet only I know...) the encryption standard is 128 bit AES, I wish they would have used 256 bit...but whatever. No doubt Android is late in the game, I just don't think they thought it necissary until the smartphone evolved to something more powerful.
Android Encryption: http://source.android.com/tech/encryption/android_crypto_implementation.html
Cellebrite: Their schtick, as far as Android and BB devices are concerned, is recovering data from a locked device, ie you forgot the password and the backup etc etc. They go out of their way to not mention the word DECRYPTION when talking about Android or BB. I say this because in thier iOS section, they repeatedly mention their ability to DECRYPT the device data on the fly. So again it would appear to me that, for Android, they use some custom revocery ROMs and adb to revocer UNENCRYPTED data (with their special hardware).
in fact this is from Cellebrite themselves:
for ALL Android OS versions including Android 4.X (Ice Cream Sandwich). Physical extraction for any locked device is only available if the USB debugging has been switched on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cellebrite on Android: http://www.cellebrite.com/forensic-solutions/android-forensics.html
Encryption is encryption, if it uses AES, as far as I know you have to be able to crack AES to get at the data once it's encrypted.
You need the password, or brute force, OR find a weakness in the algorithm.
If you're that worried, find another way to transport/store your private data. Companies with this much at stake are stupid to entrust sensitive data to any of these devices in any of their current states. For you and me, I don't think yo uneed to worry about your stuff that much. This is like the old adage that locks keep honest people honest. Most people find a phone, maybe try a few cheap easy tricks and wipe if they fail. Although AES is considered safe against brute force, if you need more, use truecrypt with hidden partitions or something like this and a real computer. Even then....
How would you know if someone cooked a back door into their ROM. A back door that would allow them to monitor a phone's contents remotely. A phone that's running their ROM of course.
Mercurybird said:
How would you know if someone cooked a back door into their ROM. A back door that would allow them to monitor a phone's contents remotely. A phone that's running their ROM of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally this can happen only with vendor's signed rom. Only vendors do this sometimes. Examples: Conflipper, 911sniper and recently some other guys. Vendor was naturally HTC.
They all uploaded a lot of official roms to the private host, HTC investigated the case, found the possible leak source and framed them leaking the rom with backdoor. Thus vendor got personal data and later ganged up on them threatening prosecution.
So if you want to be 100% sure that you have back-door-free rom - cook custom Because chiefs don't give a $hit about your personal data, vendor - does!
P.S. And of course:
Remember, just because you're paranoid that doesn't mean that everyone's not out to get you!
than use only the shipt roms from factory , i have used many custum roms and never a problem now i use dynamics 2.0 and he is perfect.
the only thing wath is sure in live is your bird and dead
Mercurybird said:
How would you know if someone cooked a back door into their ROM. A back door that would allow them to monitor a phone's contents remotely. A phone that's running their ROM of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh. Don't tell this idea to anyone!
I have just bought a new sports car based on money stolen from your phones. New flat to come. Please, wait a little more! Don't spread this information.
Mercurybird said:
How would you know if someone cooked a back door into their ROM. A back door that would allow them to monitor a phone's contents remotely. A phone that's running their ROM of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now without irony.
Of course, you can never be sure. But:
1) XDA-developers is a community of enthusiasts. If we were to steal anything, we could do it long ago. But, in that case, any other developer can reveal the truth about ROM internals and totally ruin reputation of that developer.
While reputation is just an "integer" value stored somewhere in XDA databases and people's minds, maintaining good "karma" in internet is still much more useful IRL (I guess many devs here can confirm it).
It is a pure hobby for almost everyone. Most of us have work, studies, lots of other things to do.
2) Windows Phone isn't really interesting for majority of "evil" hackers. It is a niche platform currently. It is nearly impossible to earn donations or get money any other way on this platform via development. Thus, I am quite sure all developers still keeping this platform alive are real enthusiasts without any criminal thoughts in minds.
3) Low interest leads to small amount of developers, lack of manuals, etc. Even "evil hackers" have to learn _how_ to do harm on specific platform. WP7 unofficial development has a big entry barrier, effectively filtering even power users.
You can ask what are the reasons most of us still work on this platform? Each software engineer loves when his code _works_, and WP7 limitations is better in this case. Because relatively small amount of native code works "out of the box" - I mean, without hours in debugger, decompiler, eyes red due to display backlight, nights spent in code
ultrashot said:
Now without irony.
Of course, you can never be sure. But:
1) XDA-developers is a community of enthusiasts. If we were to steal anything, we could do it long ago. But, in that case, any other developer can reveal the truth about ROM internals and totally ruin reputation of that developer.
While reputation is just an "integer" value stored somewhere in XDA databases and people's minds, maintaining good "karma" in internet is still much more useful IRL (I guess many devs here can confirm it).
It is a pure hobby for almost everyone. Most of us have work, studies, lots of other things to do.
2) Windows Phone isn't really interesting for majority of "evil" hackers. It is a niche platform currently. It is nearly impossible to earn donations or get money any other way on this platform via development. Thus, I am quite sure all developers still keeping this platform alive are real enthusiasts without any criminal thoughts in minds.
3) Low interest leads to small amount of developers, lack of manuals, etc. Even "evil hackers" have to learn _how_ to do harm on specific platform. WP7 unofficial development has a big entry barrier, effectively filtering even power users.
You can ask what are the reasons most of us still work on this platform? Each software engineer loves when his code _works_, and WP7 limitations is better in this case. Because relatively small amount of native code works "out of the box" - I mean, without hours in debugger, decompiler, eyes red due to display backlight, nights spent in code
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great comments all around. I'm not a paranoid person. But I couldn't help wondering. I have faith in the community all around, like you said. Accountability doesn't lead to deviousness, it leads to integrity. I've heard that the Android is the hacker phone of choice. Or maybe I was misled in my naivete'. One of the things that I noted in my toying with the xda apps, the root tools tell you to be careful about allowing all of your apps. It's big fun watching what you guys crank out. keep up the good work, and if there is threat out there- crank out some apps for it.:highfive: