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.
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."
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.
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.
Pitchforks: that way.
"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.
[nobody has aptitude or inclination to maintain such a thing]
"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.
Comscore Beacon Disqus Facebook Social Graph Google +1 button Google analytics Quantcast Twitter Button
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."
Imagine if cyanogen had been putting cIQ in there? He'd be burned at the stake.
