The proof here will be when they ship.
Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction.
Google remembers that too, and this change allows Google to bypass those same execs when pushing out updates. The HAL layer will not change from version to version, meaning no driver support will be required from the OEM for new Android versions.
A move towards replacing an open OS with an entirely proprietary solution full of tracking by a single vendor is "a step in the right direction"?
There's thousands of solutions for how you can update core OS components, none of them require what Google's doing to open source.
Yes, but only if you declare the business models of everyone involved a non-goal.
An open core business model was always what Android was like, but now the opem core is shrinking with every further commit.
The current solution: Move them out of AOSP, into Google's internal projects, distribute updates via the Play Store.
An alternative solution: Move them out of AOSP, onto GitHub, distribute updates via the Play Store.
Yes, Google had to decouple them from AOSP. But that’s no reason not to put the code anywhere else in the open. These issues are entirely orthogonal, and Google uses it as a way to force more people onto the proprietary ones.
Also, open sourcing the apps takes away any leverage Google has to recoup the costs of developing Android.
This all worked in the past.
The development is easier, but if you plan to distribute on other stores, google play services are useless and will make your development more time consuming as they are exclusive to devices with google play store.