Rooting is for the naive

[LrdElderon]

**Warning 1: Not starting flame war, give the post its due credence, before bashing me or locking/deleting thread, thanks!**

**Warning 2: somewhat lengthy post**

I was just reading the 2.1 update thread which was started yesterday. I kept seeing posts from 2 groups:

The rooters - Extolling the virtues of their rooted droids

The unrooted - Extolling the virtues of their unrooted droids

This back and forth banter between the two groups made me smile and begin to reflect upon my 15+ years in computing and the lessons that I have learned.

//begin boring-you can skip this//
Firstly, some background on me. I am 28 years young and started out on PCs just as they began booming in the early nineties. I became a full-out geek pretty much from the get-go. I had a 486 PC with Windows 3.11/DOS with maybe a 100mb HD, can't remember. Shortly thereafter, the AOL boom hit. Anyone remember "punters" and "server rooms". No? Not surprising. I was a geek even on AOL.

Only a few years later, I installed my first Linux distro, Suse. Since then, I have not looked back at Windows, installing various distros from year to year, eventually settling back to OpenSuse (my current distro). I have become the goto-guy for fixing all of my friends' and families computers. During these years, I have learned quite a bit about not only PCs in general but the software that is installed in them, ESPECIALLY the Windows crapware (ie virii, trojans, adware, spam, etc).

//end boring//

It is with this bolded sentence on which I wish to make my point. You spend a great deal of your time holding an incredible device. A device that has wifi capabilities, GPS location, email, web-surfing, and so much more. It is precisely because of these capabilities that your phone can be exploited oh so easily.

Not to take anything away from these fine coders who are releasing these custom roms. But I have to ask you, how well do you really know them? Do you know them well enough, that you don't mind if your keys are logged and emailed to a remote server? How about letting them borrow your credit card? Or letting them know your whereabouts via GPS at any given time?

For my part, I say nay. I would need to know someone lifelong to be that trusting. I want to make it VERY CLEAR to whomever is reading this:

I am NOT advocating that any custom ROMs are rigged against you. I only wish to make you aware how you open yourself up to a potential fifteen year old coder who wants to make a name for himself in the "L337" underground.

Be a bit more cautious in what you install on your phone. The Android OS is linux-based. Meaning, you need root privileges in order to make certain changes. That is one of the strongest security points for Linux over Windows. But wait! Conveniently, these Roms root for you! How novel!

If you are a coder, and you can open up these ROMs and pinpoint exactly what is happening inside of them, kudos for you. You should be the ONLY ones who feel completely safe and smug running these. To those that can't, be wary, always. That is all and I hope I didn't anger too many with this. Twas not my intent.

Woof.

well that's why we are not running windows phones :icon_ devil:

see we have this thing called opensource. and as far as I know, perhaps the apache2 license is different but it says it's compatible with the gpl... any source modifications freely distrubted must have the source available on request. I think that was the gist of it.

you can just look at the source if you know programming or others can and im sure someone would see if something fishy were put in.

One of the reasons I mentioned to site admins about mandatory git repositories or some sort of source hosting for ALL rom devs (their private or paid apps are their own business).

and as the other person mentioned yeah you are the one that has to give permission to the apps. if you don't give it, nothing it can do.

edit: not to be an ass, I mean no personal offense at all, but for some with claimed experience that long, you seem to be the one rather naive about what rooting is and how that all works. trusting the dev is a legit concern, I agree, but for most you should be able to see the source, like with koush.... his FULL source code is up there. you can look and see for yourself if there was malware. and as stated before can't do much harm if you don't have root permission given.

 

[Technoman]

I love this part because it sounds like the OP thinks that other people will think 28 is "old" somehow. Hell I first got online via local BBS systems from my Commodore 64 in the mid-80s, and I consider myself to be young. 28 is like... very young.

That's what's great about this forum. We have 13 year old coders who think that 28 is old, the 8088 processor / punch cards/ I-took-engineering-drawing-on-a-drafting-board-with-a-freakin'-pencil crowd, and everyone in between. We have system administrators, noobs, geeks, business owners and moms/dads. I like that this community can have a serious discussion without it degrading into some crazy flame war. Thanks to everyone for their opinions. I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but they are very entertaining to read. Cudos all around.

-Jim

OMG.... You didn't say punch cards...did you? What about using cassette tape to load programs? Damn that was new technology and really fast over the "old" punch cards.

I recall back in High school in my graduation year (1980), we got our first computer (don't even remember what it was), but it wasn't anything close to what we call computer's today. Then building 8088 driven mirco's in tech school. Purchasing my first PC (286) with a 40 MEG SCSI hard drive (capable of maybe storing one file today) and CGA monitor and graphics.

We have to remember 2 things when opening ourselves and pocketbooks to any device that isn't controlled by you 100%. Like was said in an earlier post, handing your CC to a waiter to pay for a meal can be extremely dangerous.

I haven't rooted, because I haven't wanted to. Sure I have thought about it, read about it, considered it, but really didn't see the need for it at this time.

It is not because I am not capable, or knowledgeable, but because I haven't had the desire to. If I later decide that I can get more from rooting, I will do it for me and no other reason! If and when I do root, I will study, review, and really dig into the who and what DEV made the ROOT that I decide to use.

 

[cvondra]

Hey OP. I've been working on computers since the Commadore Pet. My first computer was a Timex then an IBM PCjr. I've been in the tech industry since 1992. I've been deep in almost every Windows version known to man, I remember when Linus released Linux. I've worked on Apple's since the Apple II's. I've been using cell phones since the bag phone. I've modded almost every gaming console ever released since the PS1. Modding/Rooting/Modifying stock is a tremendous learning experience for anyone who is willing to do it. With that said.....

All I can say is one thing. This is probably the stupidest, most idiotic thread that I have ever seen started. In fact I can't believe I'm wasting my time responding to it.

Off my soap box now.

 

[adrynalyne]

Wow, cvondra, tell us how you really feel.

 

[cvondra]

You just can't fix stupid thats all.

 

[Jim 777]

I think a fair point is being made.

Thank you! If I could change the title, I would.

If it hasn't been addressed (I haven't got past the first page yet)...

Click the edit button, then click Go Advanced, then you can edit the title and save.

Jim

 

[Matth3w]

Our rooted Droids are sending out keylogged information.

Bush planned 9/11.

We never landed on the moon.

JFK was shot by someone on the grassy knoll.

FDR orchestrated the Pearl Harbor attack.

See the pattern?

 

[Matth3w]

I think a fair point is being made.

Thank you! If I could change the title, I would.

If it hasn't been addressed (I haven't got past the first page yet)...

Click the edit button, then click Go Advanced, then you can edit the title and save.

Jim

Only the subtitle not the main title that shows up in the forum search.

 

[Shadez]

Sounds like you have never rooted.

Like Linux, apps must be granted permission. Thou can giveth permission, and thou can taketh away. those who run it wide open throw caution to the wind, but 99.9% of the rooters out there are not doing that.


I've been using Linux for almost as long as you have been using PCs

PCs were booming long before the early 90s, I ran a BBS from 84-90. Was a whole generation of online people way in the 80s, some in 70s. You Had the Apple //,//e,//+,Lisa, GS and the IBM one with the wireless keyboard, forget name.. so, yes, pcs were booming alot earlier..

 

[cvondra]

Epic post!

Our rooted Droids are sending out keylogged information.

Bush planned 9/11.

We never landed on the moon.

JFK was shot by someone on the grassy knoll.

FDR orchestrated the Pearl Harbor attack.

See the pattern?

 

[adrynalyne]

Sounds like you have never rooted.

Like Linux, apps must be granted permission. Thou can giveth permission, and thou can taketh away. those who run it wide open throw caution to the wind, but 99.9% of the rooters out there are not doing that.


I've been using Linux for almost as long as you have been using PCs

PCs were booming long before the early 90s, I ran a BBS from 84-90. Was a whole generation of online people way in the 80s, some in 70s. You Had the Apple //,//e,//+,Lisa, GS and the IBM one with the wireless keyboard, forget name.. so, yes, pcs were booming alot earlier..

Methinks you meant to quote someone else.

 

[cvondra]

That PC with the wireless KB was the IBM PCjr. I owned one. infrared KB. Usable distance about 3 feet but the eyes had to be directly pointed at each other. I had dual 5 1/4" floppies, no HD of course and I upped my memory to 128K if I remember right. DOS 1.0. Early color monitor. I could kill my folks for getting rid of that beauty.

Sounds like you have never rooted.

Like Linux, apps must be granted permission. Thou can giveth permission, and thou can taketh away. those who run it wide open throw caution to the wind, but 99.9% of the rooters out there are not doing that.


I've been using Linux for almost as long as you have been using PCs

PCs were booming long before the early 90s, I ran a BBS from 84-90. Was a whole generation of online people way in the 80s, some in 70s. You Had the Apple //,//e,//+,Lisa, GS and the IBM one with the wireless keyboard, forget name.. so, yes, pcs were booming alot earlier..

 

[Jim 777]

Thank you! If I could change the title, I would.

If it hasn't been addressed (I haven't got past the first page yet)...

Click the edit button, then click Go Advanced, then you can edit the title and save.

Jim

Only the subtitle not the main title that shows up in the forum search.

I changed one of my thread's title.... there's subtitles?

 

[Zargon]

That PC with the wireless KB was the IBM PCjr. I owned one. infrared KB. Usable distance about 3 feet but the eyes had to be directly pointed at each other. I had dual 5 1/4" floppies, no HD of course and I upped my memory to 128K if I remember right. DOS 1.0. Early color monitor. I could kill my folks for getting rid of that beauty.

Sounds like you have never rooted.

Like Linux, apps must be granted permission. Thou can giveth permission, and thou can taketh away. those who run it wide open throw caution to the wind, but 99.9% of the rooters out there are not doing that.


I've been using Linux for almost as long as you have been using PCs

PCs were booming long before the early 90s, I ran a BBS from 84-90. Was a whole generation of online people way in the 80s, some in 70s. You Had the Apple //,//e,//+,Lisa, GS and the IBM one with the wireless keyboard, forget name.. so, yes, pcs were booming alot earlier..

That was the first PC in my house. Fond memories of that, playing Jumpman and messing around with an early version of The Print Shop and a thermal printer. The good old days.

 

[OpalCat]

That was the first PC in my house. Fond memories of that, playing Jumpman and messing around with an early version of The Print Shop and a thermal printer. The good old days.

I had Jumpman on my C64! Should I admit that I also had it as recently as a couple of years ago on a C64 emulator on my PC? And I used to use Koala Stick to make pictures using the joystick and print them on my Okidata thermal color printer...