Post #3879561

2026-07-17 01:27 UTC

@buckfiftyseven@mastodon.social That's when we have to look at successful SDK's that represent higher-level platforms, and I think FOSS Android qualifies for that (at least partially). The other end of the dilemma relates to gaining & keeping interested users via stable UIs. This is actually the harder task, because the Unix geek culture associates a standard GUI (even if only 'reference') with oppression –even while they viciously insist on C API compat for their own uses. But, you make no interface promises to users and the users will be smart enough to keep rejecting you even when your product is $0 (see: the last 25 years of "desktop Linux" and "mobile Linux"). The threshold for "polish" was passed long ago; the real keystone is commitment and virtually no one here is ready for that. Android offers high-level APIs and a single package format. Xiaomi already showed that can be used on top of a microkernel OS.

Replies (1)

@HaTetsu@mastodon.com.pl 2026-07-17 07:31

@tasket@infosec.exchange @buckfiftyseven@mastodon.social I find your post a bit difficult to parse, because I was under the impression that Gnome and KDE have been working towards a mature position on presenting a clear platform with a "Human Interface stable API", as it were (or at least not any less stable than the commercial alternatives), with Flatpak being adopted as the common machinery for installing end-user software (which is admittedly quite the kludge - it's entirely possible this is precisely a core part of what you're objecting to). I will grant that AOSP is the closest to an open portable working high-level platform we do have (and even that exposes a libc to apps), though a layer for existing desktop apps of some sort is going to be necessary either way without a lot more oars

Open ##3879560