I think you are either replying to the wrong comment, or completely misunderstanding the issue.
The majority of Android is open source, though its development is still led by Google.
That is how you have so many deGoogled versions like LineageOS, GrapheneOS, /e/OS, CalyxOS, etc. They all start from the OS version, called AOSP, and then add things from there.
The Android you have on your phone contains a few proprietary bits by Google (the Play services) which are absolutely essential to using Android the way most people do. These can be replaced with open source versions that are mostly fine (mostly).
If Google makes android closed source, we stop getting updates, but we keep all we have, and can move forward from there.
Having a good mobile operating system without Google if need be is totally doable.
But if you want to use a mobile operating system, you first need a mobile phone to run it.
And while we can totally already have a mobile OS without the USA, right now we really can’t have a mobile phone without China. And neither can the US. And that’s going to take a long time to sort out.
Couldn’t someone fork Android and get a head start that way? As I understand It android is FOSS at its core.
I think you are either replying to the wrong comment, or completely misunderstanding the issue.
The majority of Android is open source, though its development is still led by Google.
That is how you have so many deGoogled versions like LineageOS, GrapheneOS, /e/OS, CalyxOS, etc. They all start from the OS version, called AOSP, and then add things from there.
The Android you have on your phone contains a few proprietary bits by Google (the Play services) which are absolutely essential to using Android the way most people do. These can be replaced with open source versions that are mostly fine (mostly).
If Google makes android closed source, we stop getting updates, but we keep all we have, and can move forward from there.
Having a good mobile operating system without Google if need be is totally doable.
But if you want to use a mobile operating system, you first need a mobile phone to run it.
And while we can totally already have a mobile OS without the USA, right now we really can’t have a mobile phone without China. And neither can the US. And that’s going to take a long time to sort out.