Market research firm has published a report that evaluates the openness of eight major open source software projects. The study which was partly funded by the European Union—focuses largely on open governance, inclusiveness, transparency, and ease of access to source code. To quantify relative openness, the researchers established criteria and a numerical rating system with points.
The projects that firm analyzed include Android, Eclipse, the Linux kernel, MeeGo, Firefox, Qt, Symbian , and WebKit.
They ranked these projects in an 'open governance index' based on the percentage of points that they received. Googles Android mobile operating system ranked the lowest, with only 23 percent.
The Eclipse integrated development environment ranked the highest, with 84 percent. Android was the only project in the study that scored less than 58 percent.
Android' low ranking in the index came as no surprise to us. As we have written on several occasions in the past, Google's mobile platform falls far below the standard of openness that the search giant promised when Android initially launched. The VisionMobile report identifies some of the key problems with Android's governance model, including Google unilateral Android project decision-making processes and closed contributions process model.
"Visibility to the roadmap is limited, as there is no Android roadmap publicly available. In fact, development of the Android private branch and the roadmap is controlled by Google, with little input from external parties or the Open Handset Alliance members," the report says. "When launched, the Open Handset Alliance served the purpose of a public industry endorsement for Android. Today, however, the OHA serves little purpose besides a stamp of approval for OHA members; there is no formal legal entity, no communication processes for members nor frequent member meetings."
The lack of transparency in the Android compliance program is also identified as one of the weak areas in Android governance. The report says that "Google tightly controls the Android platform and its derivatives" by using its unilateral control over the full Android compliance criteria, which are "undocumented and somewhat capricious."
Although the actual Android compatibility definition is public, the specific parameters of the compliance testing are a closely guarded secret. Skyhook is currently pursuing litigation against Google for allegedly doctoring the compatibility testing parameters for anticompetitive purposes.
Google's financial muscle" and engineering resources, rather than openness, have driven Android's success.
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