Root Accidentally erased apks -

[EarlyMon]

Well - it's me again.

OK, it's like this:

We allow linking to apk files only for open source (such as standard Android components) or various dev efforts such as may be pointed to at XDA or within our own developer section or other developer sites.

Anything else starts hitting copyright boundaries.

If any of you are familiar with the Swype legal stuff at XDA, that's why.

Please give me a brief time to work with richiedaze for a solution to this.

And yes, I know, it's been done here before - your forum is not being targeted - this is a top directive that we've been stepping up enforcement pretty hard for about the last month or two, because it ought not have happened.

 

[jeffzz421]

Hello,
I surely hope I didn't press those boundaries and sorry if I did. As a fairly good techie but noob to the droid in general as well as these forums, could I ask what standard apps are open source? I guess I'm assuming anything metro PCS proprietary is not, and everything else is, but again I'm a partial noob. So if you could clear this up it might help everyone in knowing what to post and what not to. I honestly have no idea myself so I'm glad that I didn't link anything myself.

 

[EarlyMon]

Hey, thanks for asking, no apologies necessary.

All we care is staying square with all parties involved in the Android world, with clean hands. We're not out to get anyone.

I've already opened correspondence with richiedaze, we'll try to find some solution to this.

Meanwhile, until we can get such a list together as you request, anything you see marked AOSP - that's standard Android stuff and that's ok. Anything MetroPCS has marked as theirs, or anything that they pulled out of the AOSP and tweaked is also theirs.

(AOSP = Android Open Systems Project - in other words, it's the open source code repository that anyone is free to access and use within license boundaries.)

If in doubt, way ok to PM me and ask before posting - allow anywhere from minutes to a full day for a response, I try to help a number of other forums with similar issues. Mod staff is here to help, not to play power trips. Work with us and we'll work with you.

If I'm silent in this thread for a while it's because I'm either working my real job, working this issue, or trying to catch some ZZZs. In the meantime, ask away, all questions will be heard on this and answered as soon as I can.

 

[richiedaze]

Virtually every rom has closed source files included in them.

Restoration of apks already included in the phones rom does not in any way be considered illegal use. Just a simple replacement.

So if I post a rom with metro stuff in it, is it gonna get pulled because it already included in the original rom and is system dependant to run correctly? Thus, my modifications had nothing to do with these apk's?

 

[EarlyMon]

I'm trying to track this all down - I don't pretend to have all of the answers on this yet.

We build our operating procedures here on guidelines made from past experiences and precedents.

You'd think it would be fine to just allow a recovery package of apk files - until the day somebuddy started posting apks that came with his phone saying, "Hey, you can mix these in with custom rom XXX and it's just so kewl - and they work with any phone! Hahaha!"

We just want to run an Android phone fan forum - not become the target for whambulance chasers anonymous.

I think the goal was righteous for a recovery package of apks for people.

As to the custom rom stuff - I don't know what the rule is on that. Probably I wasn't clear enough in our PMs, in that I'm looking to see what shielding you'd be afforded as a recognized rom dev at our site. Personally, I'm hoping that will turn into an easy, straight-forward answer.

Your Optimus forum isn't alone in facing these issues, so that makes it a good thing that we can advance this to resolution not just as an isolated case.

That's all I _don't_ know at the moment.