The "write-or-execute" policy causing this havoc is remarkably similar to what is being done with WebExtensions v3 banning any dynamic code execution. Termux wants to be able to bring down code & let users run it, but that's verboten. Similarly, all WebExtensions will be forbidden from bringing down code (or accepting user entered code).
That sounds fine/good for like 98% of extensions. But the other 2%... extensions like GreaseMonkey/VioletMonkey/TamperMonkey, or one could imagine something like IFTTT or PushBullet, where the extension might perhaps want some intrinsic extensibility to itself: those are all now verboten. There's not really any discussion or push/pull on the new security regimes. Computers just get more and more clamped down.
I'm interested to see how Termux goes forward. In the past they seemed to have some "in-APK packaging" notions for how to deal with Android 10+. I haven't stumbled upon a good description of what this is or how it would work, and I'm not really sure whether these ideas are still active or whether F-Droid and using ever aging SDKs is the way forward.
Termux still works fine on any Android device, all you've got to do is install it through F-Droid or similar. Google Play is the party blocking W+X, Android itself will happily execute your downloaded binaries (for now, at least).
There are also other APIs that are absolutely verboten by Google Play but will work fine if the app is installed through alternative app stores.
Nope, Android started to ban linking to native APIs that aren't officially part of the NDK, like Linux syscalls.
More recent versions will just kill the application if they get used, and Termux folks refuse to accept that they have to go through JNI for specific OS features, so they won't be around for much longer, other than on rooted devices.
Or they might eventually accept how things are done on Android.
That's begging the question; the only reason phones aren't general-purpose computers is because Google and Apple tend to block out anything that would let the user actually use the computer as more than a toy.
Pocket PC/Windows CE/Windows Mobile all seem far more like examples of phones trying really hard to be general-purpose like, rather than examples of phones being different. And getting fairly close.
Personally I think it's hard to justify phones as something different than general purpose computers. A device that can load fairly arbitrary apps is already almost by definition a general purpose computers, it's just a matter of what has been built and/or what is allowed to be shipped, and what system resources are available (few, in many of your examples, often owing to it being the aughts). Now that the system resources are clearly no longer a differentiator, it's almost all just corporate-politics & the war-against-general-purpose-computing vested-interests enforcing the distinction.
Yeah, and Q-Tips weren't meant to go in your ear, but we do it anyway. Modern smart phones are built to run applications - they're built with a CPU, RAM, and storage, just like your desktop. The only thing special about them is the integration of the cellular phone radio/modem into the main chip. Doesn't matter what they were or weren't "meant for", it matters what they _are_. Smart phones, nowadays, are essentially general-purpose ARM computers with really good power management.
> Or they might eventually accept how things are done on Android.
Given that the way you say "things are done on Android" is that tools like termux don't exist, you're effectively saying they should just give up and kill the project. I understand that this is consistent with your view of the OS, but can you understand why nobody involved is interested?
I think this is not the worst situation. Downloading executable code is very rare in normal use cases and is extremely common and powerful for malware. For the common user, its better to just turn this off. And for the power user, they are free to sideload apps that can do whatever they want.
The problem is you can't actually turn it off like you think you should be able to do. As well, you should expect feature parity (automated updates and so on) with the R^X turned off.
Create your own non-custodial wallet. Ideally keys would be generated either on an airgapped computer, or on a hardware wallet (e.g. Ledger).
For non-significant amounts that you want to be able to use in the go, you can choose to additionally have a hot wallet (others have already mentioned MetaMask for ETH-based, for example).
If you do not want to go the extra mile and want convenience, and have an iPhone, personally I think an iOS-based wallet is a more secure choice than having it on your desktop or Android device.
Save your BIP39 seed phrase offline (paper for example). Protect it with a pass phrase. If you want extra protection on the passphrase, there are solutions to “split” it using Shamir’s scheme to for example 2-out-of-3 and store the parts on different locations. (Definitely run this on an offline device, for example on a laptop booted from a live USB key)
Either way I advise against fully custodial wallets such as blockchain.com or crypto.com (commonsly recommended but not your keys not your coins).
Google seems to be best in creating - or buying and scaling - a platform to let "creatives" make "things". They simply time after time seem to confirm that they just can not be "creative" themselves but they do build great technologies.
And from a technical perspective Stadia does makes sense, you just seem to be making an interactive YouTube?
Maybe I am missing something or underestimating the complexity of a k8s deployment, but we have been running Swarm in production for a while now and it was/is still a breeze. So what would you consider the complexities of running Swarm in production - I would then like to look into these - as a means of being ahead of the curve of complexity...
Same for me. Swarm has been super easy to install and to use in production. You can do highly available deployments super easily too. I don't see how one could build the same thing more simply.
In part I agree, and of course I am biased since I studied CS but my goal is to be a house builder for a while and then have enough experience to be a proper architect. That's when the CS background should help again. So, study to be an architect, be a house builder for a couple of years and then be a properly educated and experienced architect from there on out?
I am also a dev in The Netherlands, while a lot of data is available for devs in the US I can't find something similar for NL. What would you consider a competitive pay for devs in NL? (Assuming we are talking about the Amsterdam area for the junior, medior resp. senior levels)?
What is the value of having principles, or in this case _supporting a brutal, vile regime and its disgusting human rights practices and culture_ if there is a clear upper limit to them?
