Anbox: Android on GNU/Linux
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It is unclear to me, if Anbox comes with Android pre-installed or one can/must install the OS by oneself. In the latter case, would it be possible to install e.g. Replicant?
Anbox claims that the Android OS will not have direct access to to host OS. If this is true, does it mean that I can run a not fully free piece of software in Anbox which will not affect or have access to my computer?
(I often use Aedict for Japanese-English translation)
Their docs[1] say, that
"The repository does not contain an android image"
In some other places they actually mention some provided image, so You're probably right about being confused. Still, I'd trust the doc that says there's no image, because it's been updated more recently.
Perhaps they used to include some image, but had problems complying with Linux' GPL? I'm just guessing. (imagine adding 1G of sources to your git repo just to comply with a license)
Anyways, it is definitely possible to use your own version of Android. As to Replicant, Idk how well it would work. Does anybody even test it on x86? (if You're not on x86, then sorry for the assumption)
Someone needs to test it. Once You have some image, follow [2].
As to direct access to host OS, the android should indeed be unable to meddle with other things on your PC. Provided that they implemented the entire thing correctly!
Be careful, tho: some virtualizers and emulators like this by default create a NAT for guested OS/programs to access the internet. I once faced this when I wanted to create a virtual machine without network access, and I was surprised when I open a web page in it. In that case, it was QEMU, that did put the guest behind NAT.
When You think about it, there might also have some other default configurations that could cause similar problems. Check twice
Finally - are you sure You want to run nonfree sw? Even if it's containerized of virtualized, it's still nonfree and it still mistreats You. Still, it's your choice, after all
[1] https://github.com/anbox/anbox/blob/master/docs/runtime-setup.md
[2] https://github.com/anbox/anbox/blob/master/docs/build-android.md#user-content-run-anbox-with-self-build-androidimg
> In the latter case, would it be possible to install e.g. Replicant?
Probably. Since it's virtualized hardware compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
> Finally - are you sure You want to run nonfree sw? Even if it's containerized of virtualized, it's still nonfree and it still mistreats You.
Yes, I don't know why so many people in this forum seem to think that virtualizing or sandboxing non-free software makes it okay. You are no more free to use, share, or modify the software than if you run it normally, and by relying on the software you give up freedom.
>> In the latter case, would it be possible to install e.g. Replicant?
>
> Probably. Since it's virtualized hardware compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
Keep in mind it's not real virtualization, just containerization :)
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