Is Android Studio Truly Free Software?
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Dear,
I searched Trisquel repositories on Android Studio:
apt-cache search android
There are several results including SDK and other things.
What I want to know is, if downloading and installing Android Studio from this site https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html then I will be able to configure to use the Replicant SDK.
I know I could use Eclipse to develop Android applications, but I'd like to know more about Android Studio.
When I try to download Android Studio, I get the agreements and the license that I must accept. It does not seem at all free, it also says it collects data such as IP, etc. to improve the use of Sofwtare. I think it's better to go for Eclipse ADT and the Replicant SDK. What do you think? Could I install the Replicant SDK in Android Studio?
Regards
I can't find any source code for it. All I can find is build instructions:
https://sites.google.com/a/android.com/tools/build/studio
It seems that Android Studio is made by adding a plugin to IntelliJ IDEA, so I guess you could do that yourself and then it would be libre. But assuming I didn't miss something, the binaries distributed on the site you linked are proprietary.
I found this : https://sites.google.com/a/android.com/tools/build#TOC-Getting-the-source-code
Version 2.2 seems to be available. I haven't tried downloading the branch, so I can't tell you what the contents are. They don't seem to actively promote downloading their source on the website, so I'd at the very least stay away from downloading the binary.
And with what IDE do you recommend working for Replicant? Thanks.
I believe the binaries are proprietary. However, Debian has recently packaged the Android SDK, and those packages are built from source and free. You can run Debian testing and install the android-sdk package.
Does that package contain the IDE for development?
Hi,
I've personally come to this doubts myself, when I was beginning to develop for Replicant.
Paul K. has written an interesting post on his blog, about the "free-ness" of google's android SDK:
http://code.paulk.fr/article0008/what-s-up-with-the-android-sdk
I don't really think it solves the question, but it gives many interesting suggestions, so I suggest you read it.
Then, asking on the Replicant forum for help, I received this reply from Wolfgang Wiedmeier, about three alternatives, including the SDK in Debian:
http://redmine.replicant.us/boards/21/topics/13931?r=14002#message-14002
In the same thread, I explain the way I got to successfully start developing with the Replicant SDK, using Eclipse as an IDE.
Please read this page for general instructions:
http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/SDK
That page is a little outdated, but I'm going to review it in the next 10 days, to include my experience and the way I got to use the SDK. Anyway, even now, it should give you enough clues on how to put up a developing environment.
My suggestion is to avoid using Android Studio, as I strongly suspect it contains proprietary code.
Using Eclipse should do well enough, once you get used to it. The only feature that's missing is the wysiwyg editor for the layout, but I found out that it is far from being essential; you will do better with manual XML'ing.
For anything else, feel free to ask in Replicant's froum, and you will get more direct helping.
Happy hacking!
Fil
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