CyanogenMod will never have Carrier IQ
cyanogenmod.com
cyanogenmod.com
"Here is a list of stuff that tracks you installed on the page talking about how cyanogen will never track you. Note you need not interact with any of these to be tracked. Just browse the page you're reading.
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Not saying cyanogen is evil, or that these are unusual or unreasonable, or even missing the point about how carrier bloatware will inevitably lead to truly evil things like Carrier IQ. It's hard to get away from this kind of crap these days. The irony just struck me, that's all."
[nobody has aptitude or inclination to maintain such a thing]
"This info" is quite the weasel word. The set of data collected by cmstat, and what carrier's need spyware to obtain are mutually exclusive. Everything that CM stats collects would be available to carriers by looking at a combination of their sales, tower checkins, and firmware upgrades. After reading what data was included, I decided to opt-in my phone after previously opting-out by force of habit.
Because when I went through the process I was extremely nervous - even though most of the code is open source, how would you spot a backdoor if it was buried within a line?
The ability to have root from the factory on a device you own should be a consumer's right in the states, just like getting your carrier unlock code.
When buying a computer, desktop or laptop, I would be extremely disappointed if I discover that I don't have the full ownership represented by "root access".
When buying a car, don't we get the keys of the doors and a way to open the front cover where the engine lies?
I don't understand why our expectations with mobile phones should be any different. People are letting go this ownership too easily. It worries me. I suspect there is some PR or FUD work behind the curtain.
We are told that full ownership is dangerous and unnecessary. Like any power given to the owners, it may be dangerous, yes: I can fill my car's gas tank with sugar and break the engine if I wish to do so. But I think this Carriergate shows well enough that full ownership of devices that are so deeply rooted in our private lives is of the utmost necessity.
You don't get the "keys" for ECU, unfortunately.
Isn't this the same thing as the Cyanogen mod?
As a counterexample: There are certain maintenance procedures for late model Audis that can only be done at the dealership. The diagnostic tool is connected to the car and then phones home to a central system to get vehicle-specific codes required to perform some actions. One such action, oddly enough is getting the car to recognize a new ECU[a].
[a] you can circumvent this by reflashing another ECU with special firmware to become a 'clone' of the original but this would be very analogous to having to 'root' your phone to install different software.
From what I hear, the ECU tuning industry works hand-in-hand with the automakers and they cooperate on the DRM.
The vast majority of people receive their cellphones under subsidy- signing up for a cellphone contract and getting a discounted price. In effect, you don't "own" the phone until the end of that contract, because they could (in theory?) take that phone away from you if you stopped paying every month.
Now, I'm not saying I agree with the line of thought but it's there. At the very least there should be the ability to root your phone after contract, or whenever you want if you buy the phone full price. Sadly, that doesn't happen often. But when I bought my Nexus One outright, it was very simple to root it.
Pitchforks: that way.
It's a fallacy because not everyone has the technical skill to do it, and the amount of people who do have the technical skill are (I'm guessing, but I don't think I'm wrong) statistically insignificant next to the amount of people who don't.
So, the overall problem isn't solved, and the people who have the technical wherewithal to actually speak out about it as technical experts are, by and large, sitting in a corner with CM7 and saying "All good over here."
Google could provide an update that would remove or disable Carrier IQ. Something to tide users over until the next OS update is available to their phones. I find it unlikely that Carrier IQ will be around on any device after ICS is installed (too much bad press for HTC, etc.), but that may take some time or simply not even happen for some phones.
One thing that is starting to become very clear is that there are more advantages to the Nexus line than just getting swift updates! Third party cell manufacturers may have unwittingly created a two-tier Android market, with their modified versions of the OS in the bottom tier.
Imagine if cyanogen had been putting cIQ in there? He'd be burned at the stake.
As an engineer I couldn't care less about their small post. I already knew about cyanogen.
As a run of the mill consumer though this post couldn't be more poignant. Raising awareness of an alternative firmware? That is huge. This is how Linux got started.
Blame marketing all you want but the more people who know about Cyanogen the better.
Cyanogen is still harder than jailbreaking an iOS device, but the gap is narrowing.
As that edge reaches more casual users, who aren't just tech-heavy people, there's no reason Cyanogen couldn't be the Ubuntu of Android phones. It could have a large base of converts who want an alternative but don't want to have to spend all their time learning how to use their software in (for us techies) awesome ways.