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The Android operating system is taking over the mobile space. From humble beginnings in 2007, Android has become a dominant force in the handset market. Bill Gurley at Benchmark Capital describes the trend with Android as a "freight train." According to Lance Whitney of CNET, Android phone sales were double that of iPhone sales for the 4th quarter of last year.
Competitors are now struggling to keep up with Android. Why? Android is a free, open-source operating system. The Linux kernel is the foundation and is released under the General Public License (GPL). The rest of the operating system is published by Google under the Apache software license. This means that the source code is made available free of charge, is shared with others and for Apache-licensed source code, can even be used for proprietary applications. Freedom to use the source code is a major contributor to the success of Android.
As free software, Linux is a great foundation for almost any computer system as evidenced by its use. 90 percent of the 500 fastest computers in the world run Linux. Major securities and commodities exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, use Linux for transaction processing. The biggest Internet players in the world use Linux. Google, eBay, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter all use Linux. The Department of Defense uses and contributes to open-source projects including Linux, says Savio Rodrigues of Infoworld. Governments and companies alike want to use Linux because it allows them the freedom to use what they want and cut the rest.
The strength of the Android operating system comes from collaboration between the developers who build it. When many developers share and work with the source code, they all find bugs and make improvements in the software. The software is free, yet many developers are paid to build and improve it. Proprietary software, such as iOS or Windows Phone 7, is secret within the organization with a small set of people working the source code. Open-source software allows more freedom with many more people to work with and improve the source code. This makes it a formidable competitor.
The Android OS is shared and developed by members of the Open Handset Aliance, which is dedicated to creating and setting open standards for mobile phones. Support of open standards is another strength of Android. A standard is open when it is unencumbered by patents limiting use of the standard. Open standards are what make the Internet possible. One familiar example is the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). This is where your internet address comes from.
While the iOS is a worthy competitor, it is the goodwill in free-software development that makes Android so successfu against iOS.
Scott Dunn is an IT Professional, teacher and writer living in Salt Lake City. He is also a passionate Linux enthusiast.
