[stupidthrottle]

Android was associated with the GPL via Linux, forcing them to keep it partially open source.

Fuschia is the OS and kernel nobody asked for which is licensed so that Google and partners can make locked down, closed source phones.

[shortformblog]

This explanation ignores the incredibly valid technical reason for why Google is working on Fuschia.

Android uses a monolithic kernel via Linux, and as a result has weaknesses that have surfaced over time due to ecosystem and compatibility bloat. Long story short: Android upgrades are often dependent on the manufacturer distributing updates that account for their unique devices. And that's both difficult to manage and shortens the lives of the phones people use. Hence why so many Android phones stop getting updated after only a couple of years. (Apple doesn't have this problem because it controls the ecosystem of devices.)

Fuschia, on the other hand, is based on a microkernel, which simplifies the stack, making it easier to push the phone's underlying operating system to a newer version while allowing the complexities that come with there being dozens of phones (and laptops and tablets) to support. Everything is a service in a microkernel. Given the complexity of having to support so many different kinds of devices in the current ecosystem, moving everything to a service makes a lot of sense as it would remove the compatibility complications.

Google taking its mobile operating systems and pushing them into a monolithic kernel, licensing concerns aside, helps solve a big ecosystem problem that has only grown for Android over the years. It limits functionality in older phones and when developers fail to support these devices, it creates unnecessary electronic waste.

This approach would conceivably separate the underlying OS from vendor support. That is something a widely used mobile OS would benefit from.

[childintime]

This is only one aspect, admittedly crucial as ecosystem management is a leading motive. But there are many other technical advances. One aspect is rampant bloat in today's apps, as each often duplicates a significant part of the OS.

In Fuchsia apps are collaborative by nature as the OS itself manages the user. Apps get to fill slots in story lines and so can be a seamless part of a bigger task, which can involve online resources. Along with a better user experience, app sizes might well go down 80%.

If successfully executed, it represents a paradigm shift reminiscent of the transition from DOS to Windows: it becomes much easier to realize a engaging and satisfying user experience.

[dekhn]

The reason is more that the binary blobs that make every modern phone work couldn't be updated to the kernel ABIs every time they changed. The whole point is to make it easier to deploy new hardware with custom bits.