OT: android phone backup NOT to google cloud question

[Karl Denninger]

On 5/16/2019 11:37, Valeri Galtsev wrote:
>
>
> On 2019-05-16 05:29, Ralf Mardorf via freebsd-questions wrote:
>> Is for Android devices nothing available similar to iTunes for iOS
>> devices?
>
> Depending on vendor...
>
> Speaking for Motorola (bought out by Lenovo not long ago if I'm not
> mistaken): nope. Other vendors: say, my old (~ 5 years maybe) Samsung
> Galaxy note 3 I got through AT&T - there was tool to make local own
> backup (can not vouch for full restore like iTunes allows for
> iDevices), but it's been too long since.
>
> My general impression is things got worse, i.e. google cloud, or maybe
> some vendors will offer their cloud instead of google. On the other
> hand the company invested so much of money (I'm staying from guessing
> about source of it) into data mining does want data trickle to them,
> even if you get your data back ultimately. I mean as investment,
> making android system, and keeping developing it, and supporting huge
> variety of hardware. Cost is enormous, there should be even bigger
> return on investment. So as return my suspicious mind would call the
> data android system allows its creator to receive.

The base issue is that without root you can't get into the
application-specific directories nor to any of the system settings
(since they're owned by root) and Scroogle has been allowed to put
forward a model of selling you something that isn't actually yours (you
can't get administrative access to), and if you break into it (which in
many but not all cases you can) they refuse at least some services (e.g.
Google Pay, and now in some cases their App Store stuff.)  Their
codebase has gotten much more aggressive about detecting root on devices
over the last few years and so have manufacturers with implementing
things like anti-rollback security fuses in the bootloader which, if
you're not careful, can brick your device.

There's a fairly-severe problem here in terms of general consumer
protection law, at least in the US, but nobody will go after it.  In
short if Scroogle was forced to call your phone "purchase" a *lease* or
similar (e.g. you don't really own and can't do with as you wish or
they'll play hammer games with you) that crap would stop.  But then
again that same model is infesting all sorts of other things nowdays too
-- including things like farm tractors.

I don't like it but when you get down to it it is what it is.

I use Z-Push to provide an exchange sync option that works with mobiles
here and support it at a number of client sites, and contributed a
"notes" backend for it to that project (along with a handful of bug
fixes over the years) which works against Postgres as a back end.  With
that setup you then can use things like BlackBerry's Hub+ suite for
contacts/calendar/note management and keep all of that plus email off
Scroogle's infrastructure while maintaining cross-platform compatibility
with Windows and Unix (FreeBSD/Linux) client machines.  The ultimate
back end for calendars and contacts is Radicale and for email I use the
typical Postfix/Dovecot combination.  Been running it for a number of
years and am quite happy with it.  It doesn't solve the app-specific
stuff that Scroogle does to you on Android but it DOES keep your email,
contact and calendar data off their infrastructure so they can't scrape it.

-- 
Karl Denninger
karl at denninger.net <mailto:karl at denninger.net>
/The Market Ticker/
/[S/MIME encrypted email preferred]/
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