The term was coined in the 90s by i-drive, and roughly means “use an alternative transfer method than established norms”. If I make software that has a standard transfer method (in the case of mobile devices that’s the rule “installed apps should have a known source, e.g. a store”) and I transfer stuff from another source (an unknown source in this case), that’s a sideload.
I don’t understand how that’s different than fdroid though. And in most cases, fdroid had to be side loaded for a long time after and when it was introduced
as I said elsewhere, the installation of f-droid is sideloading but based on my understanding of the term, installations by f-droid are not because f-droid is the “known source” granted permission to install software
No, you have to transfer the APK directly onto the device, either via download or ADB, to install f-droid. That means the OS has no concept of the source of the application (it’s just a raw APK).
Just because you personally trust the source (the website you download it from) doesn’t make it a known/trusted source from the OS’s perspective (whether that OS is Google Android, Graphene, or any other OS)
It’s a “chain of trust” issue. When you get something from a store, there are (usually) a bunch of things that happen behind the scene to make sure that the OS receives the application that is intended. Hash verification, signing certificate validation, SSL handshake with the source, etc. When you install an APK directly none of that happens.
I’m a bit of a dumbfuck, but I find this extremely hard to believe. Please elaborate and prove me wrong
I mean, for etymology Wikipedia is about as good as the next source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideloading
The term was coined in the 90s by i-drive, and roughly means “use an alternative transfer method than established norms”. If I make software that has a standard transfer method (in the case of mobile devices that’s the rule “installed apps should have a known source, e.g. a store”) and I transfer stuff from another source (an unknown source in this case), that’s a sideload.
I don’t understand how that’s different than fdroid though. And in most cases, fdroid had to be side loaded for a long time after and when it was introduced
as I said elsewhere, the installation of f-droid is sideloading but based on my understanding of the term, installations by f-droid are not because f-droid is the “known source” granted permission to install software
But the origin of F-droid is me choosing a trusted source, no different from when I choose to use a store.
No, you have to transfer the APK directly onto the device, either via download or ADB, to install f-droid. That means the OS has no concept of the source of the application (it’s just a raw APK).
Just because you personally trust the source (the website you download it from) doesn’t make it a known/trusted source from the OS’s perspective (whether that OS is Google Android, Graphene, or any other OS)
It’s a “chain of trust” issue. When you get something from a store, there are (usually) a bunch of things that happen behind the scene to make sure that the OS receives the application that is intended. Hash verification, signing certificate validation, SSL handshake with the source, etc. When you install an APK directly none of that happens.
Ah I see