Is Google’s Android Mobile OS in Danger?
A recent InfoWorld article suggests that Google’s Android Mobile OS is in serious danger due to a business pact between IBM and Oracle.
The pact has to do with the two companies planning two focus on OpenJDK, a new open source version of Java. So why is that a problem for Google? Well besides the fact that Oracle — who recently purchased Sun Microsystems, creators of Java — has a lawsuit against Android’s use of Java components, the problem is that Android uses components of the Harmony project. Harmony is an open source version of Java, created under the Apache Software Foundation name and contributed to heavily to by IBM employees.
So according to InfoWorld, even if Google wins the Oracle lawsuit, a move to OpenJDK could seriously affect Android, an OS that has taken top place in terms of the number of new mobile handsets purchased this year in the USA. Focus on OpenJDK means little or no focus on Harmony.
To be honest, I haven’t followed what that’s exactly about; however, anything that worries developers can cause long-term harm. Most of my time this year has been with Apple iOS work, but since the writing seems to be on the wall about Android dominating the mobile handset market (and possibly with tablets) in the very near future, I’ve started boning up on my Android skills.
Let’s just say I’ve never been a fan of Java. I like streamlined code and Java code always felt like unnecessary bloat just to do simple operations. So it’s rather difficult to decide whether to put in time learning Java (circumstances in my career simply meant that I never really had much time or desire to learn beyond the basics). If Android is in danger, why should I spend the precious little time I have in a week learning the Android OS and Java, let alone developing apps in Android? That’s a question — or something like it — that other developers are no doubt asking. (Though now that I’ve been working with Apple’s Objective-C for a while, I’m not feeling so negatively towards Java’s object-oriented principles.)
Could it be that there’s some intent by Oracle and IBM to damage Google? Possible, but why? Neither has any visible investment in the Mobile space. To confuse matters even more — at least for my understanding — InfoWorld quotes an NY Times Bits’ blog post that says Google has more developers contributing to OpenJDK than Oracle does. But if Android is to not lose its growing position in Mobile market share, Google may have to take over Harmony development or start all over again. That’s partially because, as the NY Times blog Bits says, the Oracle lawsuit restricts communication between them and Google.
My feeling is that if the latter scenario happens — that is, if Google has to take over the Harmony project — it would leave an opening for Apple’s iOS to become king of the castle. (I really feel BlackBerry will lose their worldwide top ranking and that HP/Palm WebOS has a lot of marketing to do before they’re anywhere close. Then again, maybe a revitalized Mobile OS offering from Microsoft, in the form of Windows Phone 7, has a shot.
What are your thoughts, either as a consumer or a mobile apps developer, about these developments?
Links: InfoWorld, NY Times Bits Blog.