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Google Android chief says Android not designed to be safe

ardchoille

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Earlier this week, Google Android chief Sundar Pichai explained that Android is designed to be open more than it's designed to be safe.

Earlier this week, Google Android chief Sundar Pichai spoke at the Mobile World Congress where he explained, rather bluntly, that Android is designed to be open more than it's designed to be safe. He also added that if he were a hacker today, he too would focus most of his efforts on Android.

Source: Network World
 

AQ_OC

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Sounds like a really stupid thing for an Android Chief to say -- in public. :)
 
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ardchoille

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Sounds like a really stupid thing for an Android Chief to say -- in public. :)

Can't help but agree with that. Maybe he was trying to be honest above all else, but I also think his statement has the potential to damage the platform.
 

zstairlessone

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Catering to the hackers, the people who purchase PCs instead of Macs so they can play with the computer rather than use the computer. Many more of them and they upgrade at a much faster rate (shorter time interval) than people using a computer for an end (as opposed to as an end).
Not saying all PC users are hackers and no Mac users are, just a larger portion.
 

Ser Aphim

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That isn't really a smart thing to say, but he may want to be honest and all.

I don't understand why a lot of people pick Android. Its unstable. Everyone knows that. If iOS wasn't real I would pick a windows phone instead of a android phone.
 
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ardchoille

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That isn't really a smart thing to say, but he may want to be honest and all.

I don't understand why a lot of people pick Android. Its unstable. Everyone knows that. If iOS wasn't real I would pick a windows phone instead of a android phone.

I think I'd have held onto Blackberry as long as possible if iOS didn't exist, but I wouldn't trust Android.
 

AQ_OC

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Catering to the hackers, the people who purchase PCs instead of Macs so they can play with the computer rather than use the computer. Many more of them and they upgrade at a much faster rate (shorter time interval) than people using a computer for an end (as opposed to as an end).
Not saying all PC users are hackers and no Mac users are, just a larger portion.

I don't think this is a fair description of the term "hacker". "Playing" with a computer is as valid a use of a computer as any other. If one is trying to learn about computers, that is "an end" just as any other. The number of PC users is much larger than the number of MAC users, so it only follows that most hackers are PC users rather than MAC users. But since OS X is based on some Unix version anyway, it is just as "hacker" worthy as any PC. After all, a MAC is just a PC made by Apple.
 

AQ_OC

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Google has been criticized lately for not really being "open". I think this is what the Android Chief was realy trying to defend. I don't think he was really saying that Android was not designed to be safe. He was trying to say that the higher priority was placed on open than safe. His words were unfortunate because they can easily be taken out of context, and he should have been more careful. I also believe that if being "safe" were the number one priority in any OS design, then it would have to be so locked down as to forebid Internet use, sharing, file transfer, etc. Then no one would want to use that OS. Thus, a balance is always made. Also, there is a big difference in an "open" OS verses a "closed" one. I think "open" will always be a little less safe than "closed", just by nature of what they are intended to achieve.
 

zstairlessone

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I don't think this is a fair description of the term "hacker". "Playing" with a computer is as valid a use of a computer as any other. If one is trying to learn about computers, that is "an end" just as any other. The number of PC users is much larger than the number of MAC users, so it only follows that most hackers are PC users rather than MAC users. But since OS X is based on some Unix version anyway, it is just as "hacker" worthy as any PC. After all, a MAC is just a PC made by Apple.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(programmer_subculture)

This is what I use as the true definition of Hacker. Just because someone is a hacker does not make them a criminal, it has always been an issue with me that all people that love to really play with their computers and learn what limitations exist are lumped in with the ones that exploit for personal gain or to the detriment of others. It's like deciding anyone called a teenager is a criminal thug because some people are criminal thugs that are teenagers.

Sorry to go off topic...
 
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ardchoille

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Hacker (programmer subculture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is what I use as the true definition of Hacker. Just because someone is a hacker does not make them a criminal, it has always been an issue with me that all people that love to really play with their computers and learn what limitations exist are lumped in with the ones that exploit for personal gain or to the detriment of others. It's like deciding anyone called a teenager is a criminal thug because some people are criminal thugs that are teenagers.

Sorry to go off topic...

An excellent point! OT or not, it needed to be said, in my opinion.
 

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