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59-596: MicroG (typically styled as microG ) is a free and open-source implementation of proprietary Google libraries that serves as a replacement for Google Play Services on the Android operating system. It is maintained by German developer Marvin Wißfeld. In a presentation, Wißfeld described microG as "the framework (libraries, services , patches ) to create a fully-compatible Android distribution without any proprietary Google components". Although Google initially released
118-644: A "welcome addition" for users of alternative Android-based projects, including CyanogenMod , Replicant , and Blackphone . Willis suggested that MicroG could increase its adoption by collaborating with these projects. Corbin Davenport, writing for Android Police in April 2018, installed LineageOS for MicroG on a Xiaomi Mi 4c smartphone using the Team Win Recovery Project image in an experiment in which he exclusively used open-source software on Android. Davenport
177-674: A brand-new battery and brand-new "outer shell". Because of this, these devices may be considered remanufactured , rather than refurbished. While in most countries there is no set legal definition, devices sold as "refurbished" tend to also come with the following assurances. Testing and certification: Often, the testing process is fully automated. Commonly used testing certification providers include Phonecheck and Blackbelt. Specialist retailers of refurbished devices typically provide: Refurbished phone retailers also often sell standard accessories such as phone cases, screen protectors, headphones, and chargers. The 'Grade' or 'Condition' of
236-763: A fork of Android that eschews Google Play Services in favor of MicroG, according to Essential's commits to the Android codebase in late 2019. Essential Products shut down in February 2020. IodéOS includes MicroG. As of May 2022, Murena company is selling a few phones including MicroG with the /e/ operating system, a privacy-oriented fork of LineageOS, with Google Services "mostly removed". In 2019, companies associated with /e/ began selling refurbished smartphones with MicroG pre-installed. In 2020, OmniROM began providing builds including MicroG built in for certain devices. In 2016, Nathan Willis of LWN.net expected MicroG to be
295-719: A free and open-source Android-based operating system – that includes both MicroG and the F-Droid app store as pre-installed software. LineageOS for MicroG was created after LineageOS developers declined to integrate MicroG into LineageOS; the developers cited MicroG's need to spoof code signatures as a security concern. To enable MicroG's functionality, LineageOS for MicroG includes limited support for signature spoofing. MicroG developers claim that older smartphones consume less battery power using LineageOS for MicroG compared to operating systems that use Google Play Services. LineageOS for MicroG supported 39 device models in 2017, and now supports
354-596: A niche role outside of the mainstream of private software development. However the success of FOSS Operating Systems such as Linux, BSD and the companies based on FOSS such as Red Hat , has changed the software industry's attitude and there has been a dramatic shift in the corporate philosophy concerning its development. Users of FOSS benefit from the Four Essential Freedoms to make unrestricted use of, and to study, copy, modify, and redistribute such software with or without modification. If they would like to change
413-639: A number of different kinds of retailer. These include: Many independent electronics refurbishers operate their own online retail store. In the USA, refurbished electronics retailers include Gazelle, while in the UK, specialist retailers include The Big Phone Store and Envirofone. Manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung increasingly operate trade-in programs when buying a new device through their online store, which allows them to easily sell their own refurbished products. A number of large electronics retailers, such as BestBuy in
472-510: A refurbished device describes how much wear and tear there is on the device. Some refurbished phone retailers will simply describe these with letter grades (i.e. Grade A , Grade B etc.) , while others use their own naming convention. It is important to note that these grades are usually cosmetic descriptions only. Common conditions: Devices with heavier signs of use are priced lower, and on average may be less durable, than devices in perfect condition. Refurbished electronic devices are sold by
531-409: A refurbished electronic device is one that has been previously returned or re-sold to a retailer for any reason. They are then tested, and if necessary, repaired by a specialist refurbisher (or sometimes by the original manufacturer). Refurbished electronics may also be referred to as renewed , reconditioned , recycled , recertified , or " like new " electronics. The sale of refurbished electronics
590-568: A single unified term that could refer to both concepts, although Richard Stallman argues that it fails to be neutral unlike the similar term; "Free/Libre and Open Source Software" (FLOSS). Richard Stallman 's Free Software Definition , adopted by the FSF, defines free software as a matter of liberty, not price, and that which upholds the Four Essential Freedoms. The earliest known publication of this definition of his free software definition
649-540: A variety of FOSS projects, including both free software and open-source. Refurbishment (electronics) In electronics , refurbishment is the practice of restoring and testing a pre-owned electronic device so that it can be re-sold. Refurbished electronics are therefore pre-owned electronic devices (usually smartphones , tablets , or laptops ), that have been tested by a reseller to confirm that they are fully working. Other refurbished electronics include smartwatches , games consoles , and cameras . Usually,
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#1733106905041708-573: Is also to set up an Open Source Programme Office in 2020 and in 2022 it launched its own FOSS repository https://code.europa.eu/ . In 2021, the Commission Decision on the open source licensing and reuse of Commission software (2021/C 495 I/01) was adopted, under which, as a general principle, the European Commission may release software under EUPL or another FOSS license, if more appropriate. There are exceptions though. In May 2022,
767-664: Is another FOSS compiler but is under a permissive license . LWN speculated that Apple was motivated partly by a desire to avoid GPLv3. The Samba project also switched to GPLv3, so Apple replaced Samba in their software suite by a closed-source, proprietary software alternative. Leemhuis criticizes the prioritization of skilled developers who − instead of fixing issues in already popular open-source applications and desktop environments − create new, mostly redundant software to gain fame and fortune. He also criticizes notebook manufacturers for optimizing their own products only privately or creating workarounds instead of helping fix
826-581: Is part of the circular economy , and refurbished devices are often promoted as a solution to the problem of electronic waste . In many countries, the word "refurbished" is not legally protected (although France has introduced a legal definition as of 2022). This means that different electronics resellers will have different definitions of what counts as a refurbished device. In theory, a smartphone could be sold as 'refurbished' with no repairs or testing whatsoever. However, most refurbished devices have been rigorously tested to ensure they are fully working. In
885-530: Is today better known as Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird . Netscape's act prompted Raymond and others to look into how to bring the FSF's Free software ideas and perceived benefits to the commercial software industry. They concluded that FSF's social activism was not appealing to companies like Netscape, and looked for a way to rebrand the Free software movement to emphasize the business potential of sharing and collaborating on software source code. The new name they chose
944-630: Is used by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) to determine whether a software license qualifies for the organization's insignia for open-source software . The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines , written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens . Perens did not base his writing on the Four Essential Freedoms of free software from the Free Software Foundation , which were only later available on
1003-694: The Android operating system as open-source software in 2007, the company gradually replaced some of Android's open-source components with proprietary software as Android grew in popularity. Marvin Wißfeld, a German software developer, created the NOGAPPS project in 2012 as a free and open-source drop-in replacement for Google Play Services , Google's closed-source system software that has been pre-installed on almost all Android devices. The NOGAPPS project became MicroG by 2016. MicroG allows Android apps to access replica application programming interfaces (APIs) that are provided by Google Play Services, including
1062-691: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Free Software Foundation released version 3 of its GNU General Public License (GNU GPLv3) in 2007 that explicitly addressed the DMCA and patent rights. After the development of the GNU GPLv3 in 2007, the FSF (as the copyright holder of many pieces of the GNU system) updated many of the GNU programs' licenses from GPLv2 to GPLv3. On the other hand,
1121-588: The European Commission stated that "EU institutions should become open source software users themselves, even more than they already are" and listed open source software as one of the nine key drivers of innovation, together with big data , mobility, cloud computing and the internet of things . In 2020, the European Commission adopted its Open Source Strategy 2020-2023 , including encouraging sharing and reuse of software and publishing Commission's source code as key objectives. Among concrete actions there
1180-775: The Expert group on the Interoperability of European Public Services came published 27 recommendations to strengthen the interoperability of public administrations across the EU. These recommendations are to be taken into account later in the same year in Commission's proposal of the "Interoperable Europe Act" . While copyright is the primary legal mechanism that FOSS authors use to ensure license compliance for their software, other mechanisms such as legislation, patents, and trademarks have implications as well. In response to legal issues with patents and
1239-637: The hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory , announced the GNU project , saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users. Software development for the GNU operating system began in January 1984, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) was founded in October 1985. An article outlining the project and its goals
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#17331069050411298-609: The open-source software movement are online social movements behind widespread production, adoption and promotion of FOSS, with the former preferring to use the terms FLOSS , free or libre. "Free and open-source software" (FOSS) is an umbrella term for software that is simultaneously considered both free software and open-source software . The precise definition of the terms "free software" and "open-source software" applies them to any software distributed under terms that allow users to use, modify, and redistribute said software in any manner they see fit, without requiring that they pay
1357-467: The APIs associated with Google Play , Google Maps , and Google's geolocation and messaging features. Unlike Google Play Services, MicroG does not track user activity on the device, and users can selectively enable and disable specific API features. Depending what apps are installed by users, user activity may still be tracked by Google. In 2017, microG released "LineageOS for microG", a fork of LineageOS –
1416-586: The UK, the refurbished electronics marketplace Back Market claims that "refurbished" devices are distinct from "used" devices, where a "used" device is one where no repairs or testing have taken place. However other specialist retailers, like The Big Phone Store, define refurbished phones as a specific type of used or second-hand device. Devices sold as 'Certified Refurbished' through the Apple store differ from most other refurbished devices. For example, iOS devices sold as Apple Certified Refurbished will always come with
1475-609: The USA, and Currys in the UK, sell both new and refurbished electronics. These are usually sourced from an independent refurbisher. Cellular network providers have begun to offer refurbished devices on contract. These are often devices that have been traded in to a network provider as part of a contract upgrade. Back Market and Mozillion are examples of online marketplaces specialising in pre-owned electronics. Meanwhile Swappa , Amazon , TikTok Shop , eBay , Ovantica are all large online platforms where independent electronics refurbishers can sell their products. Marketplaces often provide
1534-402: The actual causes of the many issues with Linux on notebooks such as the unnecessary power consumption. Mergers have affected major open-source software. Sun Microsystems (Sun) acquired MySQL AB , owner of the popular open-source MySQL database, in 2008. Oracle in turn purchased Sun in January 2010, acquiring their copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Thus, Oracle became the owner of both
1593-655: The adoption of the new GPL version was heavily discussed in the FOSS ecosystem, several projects decided against upgrading to GPLv3. For instance the Linux kernel , the BusyBox project, AdvFS , Blender , and the VLC media player decided against adopting the GPLv3. Apple , a user of GCC and a heavy user of both DRM and patents, switched the compiler in its Xcode IDE from GCC to Clang , which
1652-470: The author(s) of the software a royalty or fee for engaging in the listed activities. Although there is an almost complete overlap between free-software licenses and open-source-software licenses, there is a strong philosophical disagreement between the advocates of these two positions. The terminology of FOSS was created to be a neutral on these philosophical disagreements between the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Open Source Initiative (OSI) and have
1711-434: The concept of freely distributed software and universal access to an application's source code . A Microsoft executive publicly stated in 2001 that "Open-source is an intellectual property destroyer. I can't imagine something that could be worse than this for the software business and the intellectual-property business." Companies have indeed faced copyright infringement issues when embracing FOSS. For many years FOSS played
1770-495: The copyright law was extended to computer programs in the United States —previously, computer programs could be considered ideas, procedures, methods, systems, and processes, which are not copyrightable. Early on, closed-source software was uncommon until the mid-1970s to the 1980s, when IBM implemented in 1983 an "object code only" policy, no longer distributing source code. In 1983, Richard Stallman , longtime member of
1829-592: The emulator. CalyxOS includes options for using MicroG as a privacy enhanced replacement for some of the functionality in Google Play Services . DivestOS , a LineageOS soft fork, chose not to support MicroG or other ways of installing or running proprietary Google apps. Since July 2023, DivestOS allows installing MicroG after enabling it in system settings, but does not recommend doing so and still considers this feature unsupported. Essential Products ' "Project Gem" smartphone, previously in development, used
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1888-562: The functionality of software they can bring about changes to the code and, if they wish, distribute such modified versions of the software or often − depending on the software's decision making model and its other users − even push or request such changes to be made via updates to the original software. Manufacturers of proprietary, closed-source software are sometimes pressured to building in backdoors or other covert, undesired features into their software. Instead of having to trust software vendors, users of FOSS can inspect and verify
1947-416: The goal of developing the most efficient software for its users or use-cases while proprietary software is typically meant to generate profits . Furthermore, in many cases more organizations and individuals contribute to such projects than to proprietary software. It has been shown that technical superiority is typically the primary reason why companies choose open source software. According to Linus's law
2006-567: The government charged that bundled software was anticompetitive. While some software was still being provided without monetary cost and license restriction, there was a growing amount of software that was only at a monetary cost with restricted licensing. In the 1970s and early 1980s, some parts of the software industry began using technical measures (such as distributing only binary copies of computer programs ) to prevent computer users from being able to use reverse engineering techniques to study and customize software they had paid for. In 1980,
2065-491: The historical potential of an " economy of abundance " for the new digital world , FOSS may lay down a plan for political resistance or show the way towards a potential transformation of capitalism . According to Yochai Benkler , Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School , free software is the most visible part of a new economy of commons-based peer production of information, knowledge, and culture. As examples, he cites
2124-480: The level of interest in a particular project. However, unlike close-sourced software, improvements can be made by anyone who has the motivation, time and skill to do so. A common obstacle in FOSS development is the lack of access to some common official standards, due to costly royalties or required non-disclosure agreements (e.g., for the DVD-Video format). There is often less certainty of FOSS projects gaining
2183-545: The more people who can see and test a set of code, the more likely any flaws will be caught and fixed quickly. However, this does not guarantee a high level of participation. Having a grouping of full-time professionals behind a commercial product can in some cases be superior to FOSS. Furthermore, publicized source code might make it easier for hackers to find vulnerabilities in it and write exploits. This however assumes that such malicious hackers are more effective than white hat hackers which responsibly disclose or help fix
2242-499: The most choice for the consumer, but do not take direct responsibility for the devices sold. Global demand for refurbished electronic devices has steadily risen since 2014. According to a 2024 report by GfK, this is primarily driven by cost, as well as the increasing necessity of owning digital devices. According to the same report, another contributing factor is increased environmental awareness, as both smartphone manufacture and electronic waste are sources of pollution. In particular,
2301-477: The most popular proprietary database and the most popular open-source database. Oracle's attempts to commercialize the open-source MySQL database have raised concerns in the FOSS community. Partly in response to uncertainty about the future of MySQL, the FOSS community forked the project into new database systems outside of Oracle's control. These include MariaDB , Percona , and Drizzle . All of these have distinct names; they are distinct projects and cannot use
2360-526: The parties stipulated that Google would pay no damages. Oracle appealed to the Federal Circuit , and Google filed a cross-appeal on the literal copying claim. By defying ownership regulations in the construction and use of information—a key area of contemporary growth —the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) movement counters neoliberalism and privatization in general. By realizing
2419-418: The required resources and participation for continued development than commercial software backed by companies. However, companies also often abolish projects for being unprofitable, yet large companies may rely on, and hence co-develop, open source software. On the other hand, if the vendor of proprietary software ceases development, there are no alternatives; whereas with FOSS, any user who needs it still has
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2478-401: The right to use, modify, and distribute the software, modified or not, to everyone free of charge. The public availability of the source code is, therefore, a necessary but not sufficient condition. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term for free software and open-source software . FOSS is in contrast to proprietary software , where the software is under restrictive copyright or licensing and
2537-467: The right, and the source-code, to continue to develop it themself, or pay a 3rd party to do so. As the FOSS operating system distributions of Linux has a lower market share of end users there are also fewer applications available. "We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable -- one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust, or adapt, we could." In 2017,
2596-432: The same device models as LineageOS. Devices receive newer versions of LineageOS for MicroG through semi-monthly over-the-air updates. For a 2018 paper on Android app privacy, security researchers from Nagoya University used MicroG to bypass Google's SafetyNet security mechanism on an Android Marshmallow emulator . The researchers altered Android's package manager and implemented signature spoofing to enable MicroG on
2655-696: The source code is hidden from the users. FOSS maintains the software user's civil liberty rights via the " Four Essential Freedoms " of free software. Other benefits of using FOSS include decreased software costs, increased security against malware , stability, privacy , opportunities for educational usage, and giving users more control over their own hardware. Free and open-source operating systems such as Linux distributions and descendants of BSD are widely used today, powering millions of servers , desktops , smartphones , and other devices. Free-software licenses and open-source licenses are used by many software packages today. The free software movement and
2714-521: The source code themselves and can put trust on a community of volunteers and users. As proprietary code is typically hidden from public view, only the vendors themselves and hackers may be aware of any vulnerabilities in them while FOSS involves as many people as possible for exposing bugs quickly. FOSS is often free of charge although donations are often encouraged. This also allows users to better test and compare software. FOSS allows for better collaboration among various parties and individuals with
2773-459: The trademarked name MySQL. In August 2010, Oracle sued Google , claiming that its use of Java in Android infringed on Oracle's copyrights and patents. In May 2012, the trial judge determined that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents and ruled that the structure of the Java APIs used by Google was not copyrightable. The jury found that Google infringed a small number of copied files, but
2832-837: The vulnerabilities, that no code leaks or exfiltrations occur and that reverse engineering of proprietary code is a hindrance of significance for malicious hackers. Sometimes, FOSS is not compatible with proprietary hardware or specific software. This is often due to manufacturers obstructing FOSS such as by not disclosing the interfaces or other specifications needed for members of the FOSS movement to write drivers for their hardware - for instance as they wish customers to run only their own proprietary software or as they might benefit from partnerships. While FOSS can be superior to proprietary equivalents in terms of software features and stability, in many cases it has more unfixed bugs and missing features when compared to similar commercial software. This varies per case, and usually depends on
2891-485: The web. Perens subsequently stated that he felt Eric Raymond 's promotion of open-source unfairly overshadowed the Free Software Foundation's efforts and reaffirmed his support for free software. In the following 2000s, he spoke about open source again. From the 1950s and on through the 1980s, it was common for computer users to have the source code for all programs they used, and the permission and ability to modify it for their own use. Software , including source code,
2950-524: Was "Open-source", and quickly Bruce Perens , publisher Tim O'Reilly , Linus Torvalds, and others signed on to the rebranding. The Open Source Initiative was founded in February 1998 to encourage the use of the new term and evangelize open-source principles. While the Open Source Initiative sought to encourage the use of the new term and evangelize the principles it adhered to, commercial software vendors found themselves increasingly threatened by
3009-489: Was "usable" and "runs pretty well". Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, in a 2019 ZDNet review of a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S9+ smartphone from /e/, determined that applications which were more closely integrated with Google Mobile Services were less likely to function properly with MicroG. During his device test, Vaughan-Nichols was able to use Signal , Telegram , Facebook , and other Android apps with no problems, while Lyft and Uber operated less reliably; Vaughan-Nichols
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#17331069050413068-447: Was commonly shared by individuals who used computers, often as public-domain software (FOSS is not the same as public domain software, as public domain software does not contain copyrights ). Most companies had a business model based on hardware sales, and provided or bundled software with hardware, free of charge. By the late 1960s, the prevailing business model around software was changing. A growing and evolving software industry
3127-462: Was competing with the hardware manufacturer's bundled software products; rather than funding software development from hardware revenue, these new companies were selling software directly. Leased machines required software support while providing no revenue for software, and some customers who were able to better meet their own needs did not want the costs of software bundled with hardware product costs. In United States vs. IBM , filed January 17, 1969,
3186-528: Was in the February 1986 edition of the FSF's now-discontinued GNU's Bulletin publication. The canonical source for the document is in the philosophy section of the GNU Project website. As of August 2017 , it is published in 40 languages. To meet the definition of "free software", the FSF requires the software's licensing respect the civil liberties / human rights of what the FSF calls the software user's " Four Essential Freedoms ". The Open Source Definition
3245-468: Was not able to run Google Maps or Twitter at all, concluding, "applications can be a pain" and "installing /e/ is a monster of a job." In May 2022, Vaughan-Nichols in ZDNet wrote "in the /e/OS, most (but not all) Google services have been removed and replaced with MicroG services." Free and open-source Free and open-source software ( FOSS ) is software that is available under a license that grants
3304-517: Was published in March 1985 titled the GNU Manifesto . The manifesto included significant explanation of the GNU philosophy, Free Software Definition and " copyleft " ideas. The FSF takes the position that the fundamental issue Free software addresses is an ethical one—to ensure software users can exercise what it calls " The Four Essential Freedoms ". The Linux kernel , created by Linus Torvalds ,
3363-643: Was released as freely modifiable source code in 1991. Initially, Linux was not released under either a Free software or an Open-source software license. However, with version 0.12 in February 1992, he relicensed the project under the GNU General Public License . FreeBSD and NetBSD (both derived from 386BSD ) were released as Free software when the USL v. BSDi lawsuit was settled out of court in 1993. OpenBSD forked from NetBSD in 1995. Also in 1995, The Apache HTTP Server , commonly referred to as Apache,
3422-516: Was released under the Apache License 1.0 . In 1997, Eric Raymond published The Cathedral and the Bazaar , a reflective analysis of the hacker community and Free software principles. The paper received significant attention in early 1998, and was one factor in motivating Netscape Communications Corporation to release their popular Netscape Communicator Internet suite as Free software . This code
3481-437: Was unable to log in to his Google Account through MicroG and concluded that "Going all open-source isn't feasible", despite the high quality of some open-source Android apps from F-Droid . Lifehacker ' s Brendan Hesse recommended MicroG in his November 2018 tutorial to "quitting Google" . Hesse saw MicroG as a "promising" alternative to Google Play Services that was "incomplete and still in development", but said that it
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