is aosp planning on requiring the bootloader to not be unlockable? because otherwise i still disagree.

if more people are interested in custom roms, theres a motivation for the manufacturers to continuing to allow it. not to mention arm gaming handhelds and the like where people are going to want to install "steamos" once the steam frame drops and people see apple level arm>x86 compatibility. these devices typically currently ship with android

add the growing maturity of mobile linux to the mix... i just dont see why manufacturers will lock it down without being forced to. sure maybe "big tech" companies (samsung etc) will to keep users locked in, but a lot of the phone manufacturers wont have a big incentive. they are not beholdent to google. pc motherboard manufacturers never locked down the bios to keep people from installing linux, even though most people only ever used windows.

if custom roms see real growth, i could see smaller manufacturers shipping with aosp to avoid paying licensing to google, and expecting the user to flash it themselves. think vanilla waydroid install. no app store, just a browser to find apks. it just makes business sense to cut the costs if it isnt going to scare away the customers.

i mean where we stand today its really just the mobile providers that lock the phones down to lock the device to their service. the manufacturers themselves usually sell unlockable bootloaders. even my pixel devices were very easy to unlock because i bought them direct from google. (sidenote: i was shocked when the wife and i went to europe. i used saily and recomended it to her, and she was unable to use it because she has an att apple.)

it seems like we largely agree about most of all of this stuff. i'm just optimistic that google is properly shooting itself in the foot right now, not pulling some draconian move. hell even the hoops you have to jump throught to install random apks on stock android are more annoying than anything. follow a guide, click a bunch of buttons in the settings, wait a day. not much more tough than gaining developer mode already is except for the time delay. i think this will wake more people up to how shitty google is, and funnel them to alternatives. this makes a positive feedback loop and encourages manufacturers to cater to flashing.