Why does Android use the a GPL Linux kernel, but libraries and user space apps that are licensed more liberal open source/free software licenses?
To put it simply – the Linux kernel has wide hardware and industry support, and keeping GPL code in the kernel as much as possible makes a pretty clear line between GPLed stuff and unencumbered stuff, but vendors are somewhat scared of the GPL, so it is avoided as much as possible outside the kernel. It seems that currently bluez is about the only userspace code in android which is GPLed. Official reasons for why to use a Linux kernel from a Google IO preso: • Great memory and process management • Permissions-based security model • Proven driver model • Support for shared libraries • Itʼs already open source!
