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Google extends Linux kernel support to keep Android devices secure for longer (www.androidauthority.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

3 comments fedilink hide all child comments

After Linux reduced LTS releases from 6 years to 2, Google has committed to supporting its forks for 4 years.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I've used, and continue to use, Linux for a long time, and am very happy with it. Great for my desktop/laptop (Debian, i3).

That said...it seems like it was a bad choice for these devices. It has no stable ABI, and not even a stable API (famously

you can read the good reasons why this is the case). If a stable API/ABI was used, then I would think it would be trivial to keep up with security updates

just run a mainline kernel with a few custom drivers for cell/touch/GPU/whatever. Those will need to be kept up with security updates, but any core kernel security would be automatically handled just by running recent kernels.

Perhaps I'm missing something obvious

probably just that everyone decided on Linux, so various vendors already have good Linux support (if only for a 5.10 or some other ancient kernel...).

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You might be surprised to learn that the Linux kernel as employed in Android does actually have a stable binary and programming interface. It’s called the Kernel Module Interface or KMI, and Android fixes the tool chain and symbols that may be used. It’s part of the effort to move devices to generic kernels.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

TIL, thanks!