[Bluenoser63]

Superuser as the su program

Yes. That allows you to login as root. Which gives you total and possibly dangerous access.

[Iggy City]

Man these speculations are getting out of hand.

I bet tomorrow there'll be a thread about QNX on iOS.

[Richard Buckley]

Does anybody happen to know when and how QNX branched from the rest of the UNIX family tree?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...simple.svg.png

Posted via CB10

It didn't. QNX is POSIX certified, but is not a derivitive of UNIX.

[ToniCipriani]

Man these speculations are getting out of hand.

I bet tomorrow there'll be a thread about QNX on iOS.

That exists to a certain extent:

Apple Inc CarPlay brings iPhone features to GM, BMW, Ford and other car dashboards | Financial Post

[rthonpm]

There is no downside to rooting. There's a reason why the one plus one is so popular

So popular that BlackBerry outsells them...

[TheBirdDog]

So popular that BlackBerry outsells them...

Sick burn!

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I'll say NO....

No QNX isn't going to become the core of Android.

No QNX isn't going to be the "core" of BlackBerry's new Android Phones.


Yes it would be cool, but there are other issues with Android other than being able to root it that makes the OS less secure. Hard to believe that if they "wanted" to lock the boot ROM that Google couldn't do that all on their own.


Google's focus isn't Android, Google's focus is advertising. Android is just one of the tool that they use to feed their advertising machine. Google could fix most all of Android problems... but it would mean investing more into Android and would mean pushing away many of the "hobbyist" that created the demand for Android to begin with. And probably making a drastic change to the Android experience.... Google just doesn't want to rock the boat that much.

[m1kr0]

Any takers?

If BlackBerry has actually been allowed to secure Android by replacing the microkernel, why wouldn't Google use this in all future incarnations of Android. That could happen and it would be the materialization of QNX as the "ace in the hole." If this is the case, BlackBerry will have just 'secured' their own future. Methinks it might be a very good time to buy shares in the company again...

Don't think Google will pay BlackBerry licencing fees for the use of QNX on the hundreds of millions of handsets. BlackBerry shareholders will lick their lips for this to happen but it sounds extremely unlikely. GOOG is no charity. Unless BlackBerry allows this for free - but what's in it for BlackBerry then? Selling a few Android powered devices with GPS at a lowish profit margin? Nope, the sums don't work for me.

Posted via CB10

[auditman]

Superuser as the su program

To control which apps can gain root access.

[dejanh]

Any takers?

If BlackBerry has actually been allowed to secure Android by replacing the microkernel, why wouldn't Google use this in all future incarnations of Android. That could happen and it would be the materialization of QNX as the "ace in the hole." If this is the case, BlackBerry will have just 'secured' their own future. Methinks it might be a very good time to buy shares in the company again...

You're basing your investment decision on an anonymous post about one device on Reddit. That's all I have to say.

[The Big Picture]

Troy needs to confirm this. His word is law. ;-)
Posted via CB10

[cgk]

This just raises all the usual questions

* if this secure kernel is so valuable why did all the tyre-kickers pass on BBRY when it was for sale?
* Someone's going to say "security!!" - if that is the case, why does *even to enterprise who put a focus on security* BB10 handsets sell in the low hundred thousands - someone is going to say advertising but enterprise customers know what it is and what it does... and they still pass.
* Since android has sold like gangbusters without this and bb10 has flopped and every phone ever sold with it has bombed, what is the business (not security) driver to make this move?

All the technical conversations are a smoke-screen - why is a company that has a successful business model going to fiddle with that to integrate in aspects of a model that has failed? It doesn't pass the smell test.

[dbmalloy]

Lets face some facts.... most users be it Android or IOS want to root their device for one simple reason... you can run pirated software... yes.. yes.. I know.. you can tinker more.. remove bloatware... blah blah blah... do not have that option on the IOS to any extent... yet jailbreaking is wildly popular... wonder why??? ....you also make your device completely vulnerable to all kinds of malware infections... not to mention it much easier to hack the device in question... not a great selling point to security minded customers..... as far as what kernal the new slider will use... what is the point of speculating... serves no purpose but to kill time.... only BB knows and if the slider comes in November.. we should know soon what is what... till that point.. there much be something better to put members energies towards...

[DaedalusIcarusHelios]

BB might be doing this themselves, and possibly could offer it as part of their BB Security Suite to Android vendors that might want to license it for some of their phones. Google might be cool with it because of how it can really ramp up Android in the enterprise. There could be some kind of cross-licensing deal in place. It's all fun speculation.

[anon(8865116)]

Don't think Google will pay BlackBerry licencing fees for the use of QNX on the hundreds of millions of handsets. BlackBerry shareholders will lick their lips for this to happen but it sounds extremely unlikely. GOOG is no charity. Unless BlackBerry allows this for free - but what's in it for BlackBerry then? Selling a few Android powered devices with GPS at a lowish profit margin? Nope, the sums don't work for me.

Posted via CB10

I doubt Google would be paying anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but Android sales don't directly make Google money. In-fact, I think they purposely do not charge for it because Oracle and other tech companies would have stronger patent infringement cases on them than they currently do. If I remember some blog I read a long time ago, the handset oems have to pay MICROSOFT to even be able to use android. I think it was something like 2-5 dollars per device? Maybe I'm crazy but I don't think I dream about stuff like this... anyway, it would be the samsungs of the world that would have to pay bbry and im sure they'll just opt for the cheaper option if that's where all the money is going.

*Edit... wasn't a dream

Why Microsoft Makes $5 to $15 From Every Android Device Sold

[cgk]

I doubt Google would be paying anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but Android sales don't directly make Google money. [/url]

That's.. a hard one.. Google charges certification fees... how much we don't know? The play store makes money but again how much does google keep? We don't know because they use (or did last time I checked) a 'other revenues' that covers a lot of stuff besides android and we know they use a lot of for marketing and to support marketing with partners.

The only thing we do know is that virtually all their revenues is from advertising and they will not make any changes that will impact that.

Lets face some facts.... most users be it Android or IOS want to root their device for one simple reason... you can run pirated software...

I don't think that is true - you don't need to root to run pirated APKs but since I don't pirate, I'll let someone correct me...

[thurask]

I doubt BlackBerry has the time, resources and (frankly) skill to convincingly have a stock Android userland on top of a non-Linux kernel.

The best example I can think of is the efforts to port flavors of Linux (Arch, Debian, etc.) to GNU HURD (another microkernel). Even though QNX hasn't been in development hell for two decades, it would still be exceedingly difficult to get something that the average user can have on a mobile device some time this century.

[mad_mdx]

There is no downside to rooting. There's a reason why the one plus one is so popular

There are plenty of downsides. You lose a lot of functionality that's only available through the manufacturers apps and gain almost nothing of use to the average user.

You didn't mention any upside

[Ment]

I doubt BlackBerry has the time, resources and (frankly) skill to convincingly have a stock Android userland on top of a non-Linux kernel.

The best example I can think of is the efforts to port flavors of Linux (Arch, Debian, etc.) to GNU HURD (another microkernel). Even though QNX hasn't been in development hell for two decades, it would still be exceedingly difficult to get something that the average user can have on a mobile device some time this century.

Interesting about GNU HURD project. One of the major roadblocks appears to be device driver support. As it applies to Blackberry I would think beyond the technical resources of replacing Linux kernel with QNX is paying for additional license fees for all the proprietary drivers in the hardware components for a modern smartphone.

[thurask]

Interesting about GNU HURD project. One of the major roadblocks appears to be device driver support. As it applies to Blackberry I would think beyond the technical resources of replacing Linux kernel with QNX is paying for additional license fees for all the proprietary drivers in the hardware components for a modern smartphone.

With cash they don't have, of course.

[Witmen]

Google doesn't want their OS rooted so having BlackBerry and QNX locking that down would be a huge win for them.

Are you sure that's the case?

If it is the case, I can't help but wonder why the Nexus devices are some of the easiest Android devices in the world to root.

Seriously, I can root a Nexus in less than five minutes and that's with using ADB and command line prompts, not some silly one click rooter.

If Google honestly didn't want their OS to be rooted, would lines such as "fastboot oem unlock" exist? I kind of think they would at least do away with that command if they wanted Android to remain locked down.

[Witmen]

There are plenty of downsides. You lose a lot of functionality that's only available through the manufacturers apps and gain almost nothing of use to the average user.

You didn't mention any upside

Can you provide some examples of this? I've rooted a lot of Android devices and I've never encountered any broken manufactures apps or functions.

Have you ever owned a rooted Android device? I'm guessing no by what you just said.

[snowsquirrel]

If using QNX kernel as a replacement for the Linux kernel of Android makes Android more secure and possibly run smoother, this could really be a great source of revenue for blackberry, licensing it to Android manufactures. Chen wants to make money on software.

[m1kr0]

If using QNX kernel as a replacement for the Linux kernel of Android makes Android more secure and possibly run smoother, this could really be a great source of revenue for blackberry, licensing it to Android manufactures. Chen wants to make money on software.

If, IF Chen can pull this one off, it may be one of the single greatest moments in the history of BlackBerry. No way this will happen.

Posted via CB10

[cgk]

If, IF Chen can pull this one off, it may be one of the single greatest moments in the history of BlackBerry. No way this will happen.

Posted via CB10

If he pulls this off, I've already promised $100 to a worthy charity on here - I'll also send up a "I was wrong about everything thread" where people can publically (metaphorically) throw tomatos at me.