Isn’t only the kernel and the OS permissively licensed? There’s nothing stopping Google and others from making all of the non-OS features closed source.
The nice thing about copyleft is that it’s infectious.
GPLv2 for a kernel isn't super infectious because your entire userspace can be proprietary. And you can also ship proprietary kernel modules as long as you make sure there's a minimim of logical separation. And even if you don't it hasn't been tested if the kernel plus a bundled kernel modue constitutes a derived work.
So you now basically have full control and can make nigh arbitrary modifications to both user and kernel space while only having to show the source of the kernel itself. Not super powerful in practice. Pretty deal for the kernel devs though.
So you now basically have full control and can make nigh arbitrary modifications to both user and kernel space while only having to show the source of the kernel itself. Not super powerful in practice. Pretty deal for the kernel devs though.