What is a bootloader, and why does Verizon want them locked?
19.05.12
Last year, users started filing complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Verizon Wireless claiming the carrier was violating its spectrum licensing terms by locking Android phone bootloaders. Verizon agreed to openness provisions when it bought licenses to the Block C bands that currently pump out 4G LTE . Many groups claim Big Red wants to have its cake and eat it too. After taking a few months to ruminate on the issue, Verizon Wireless has responded and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t see a problem.
According to the carrier, locking bootloaders is good for consumers, and good for the carrier. As such, it has no plans to stop the practice. This is an issue rife with industry lingo and shorthand, and it can be hard to follow. So let’s talk about what a bootloader is, and why Verizon wants to lock yours down.
What is a bootloader?
The bootloader is the first thing that starts up when a phone is turned on. At its most basic level, a bootloader is the low-level software on your phone that keeps you from breaking it. It is used to check and verify the software running on your phone before it loads. Think of it like a security guard scanning all the code to make sure everything is in order. If you were to try to load software onto the phone that was not properly signed by the device vendor, the bootloader would detect that and refuse to install it on the device.
[ Via: ExtremeTech | Read more... ]