Both reporters and customers make a common mistake in analyzing operating systems, from Linux to Windows, from iOS to Android.
They focus on the "great game," on specific leaders, and don't look underneath. Windows is Bill Gates. Apple is Steve Jobs. Linux is Linus Torvalds.
Wrong on all three counts.
Windows was Microsoft, and to focus solely on Gates' role is to ignore the work of thousands, starting with current CEO Steve Ballmer, who when not portrayed as a buffoon is seen as stupid. (Wrong on both counts.) Same is true for Apple, starting with Tim Cook. And as for Linus, he has never pretended to be more than a developer. Linux is a vast collective of enterprises, each with its own culture, aims, and back story.
It's the creation of this "ecosystem" that is most crucial to an operating environment's success. The company at the center of the ecosystem has the primary responsibility here, but a leader without followers isn't a parade.
Much of the Android ecosystem is being built in defiance of the aphorism above. The insistence of Steve Jobs on Apple's solitary role in setting the direction of iOS, and taking the lion's share of profits, is driving many, many companies toward Android, just as England spent a century propping up the short side of Europe's conflicts throughout the 19th century. Developers know that competition is essential to their having any influence in business relationships within an environment. They cheer for Google because it's in their interest to do so.
With this as background, we come to this week's Android Developer Conference, in San Francisco. What you need to look for at this event is the width and breadth of the Android ecosystem, the companies that are supporting it, and the offerings they make to it.
Black Duck is offering a Fast Start Program, which includes a management and compliance program that handles the constant changes to the software. (Last week's use of the kill switch against Android malware shows you the importance of this offering.) This is the sort of thing an Apple might do on its own, given its control over hardware, but Google lacks that direct hardware control, so it's good that a third-party is offering a compliance solution.
Developers can also be pleased with rival OpenLogic's research into Android license violations. Most apps for both the Android and iPhone violate open source license obligations in one way or another, the company said, with iPhone violations being among the most egregious. (Many claim to hold copyrights on open source software, or offer EULAs where some components are under the GPL.)
By using third parties to create an honest ecosystem, Android maintains pressure on Apple even while having to defend its own rights to code in court. The aim is to turn this into something like the 1980s battle between Microsoft and Apple, which eventually went Microsoft's way. Given the incredible lead the iPhone had and the iPad has (especially regarding manufacturing costs), and the growing patent and copyright storm over Android, that may seem a pipe dream.
But markets are made by visions.
