The German Corona Warn App went live today. F-Droid cannot distribute the app for multiple reasons:
1) The core bluetooth contact tracing functionality is only implemented in Google play services and requires proprietary client libs to be included in the app.
2) The google api mentioned above is only available for use by apps which are whitelisted by google and distributed through the play store.
@fdroidorg Mein "told you so" karma wächst! Selbst wenn ich müsste - ich könnte die App gar nicht installieren 😂
@fdroidorg I guess the same is true for the app Immuni created by the Italian government.
It's nice that this type of apps are open source but as long as the core functionality is integrated into the proprietary google play services the app isn't free software.
Why someone would like to use an app for tracking proposes nowadays?
Unless they don't guarantee full transparency and anonymity, I would fully stand aginst it
@fdroidorg Is the Google API documented well enough that a Free Software implementation could be made which the German app (and the Austrian, given they take the same direction) is buildable with?
@chrysn You'll find information here I believe: https://github.com/theScrabi/CoraLibre-android-sdk
@ulrichkelber Wer können wir anschreiben dafür zu werben, dass die Bundesregierung diese FOSS Bibliothek für die Corona App unterstützt? https://github.com/theScrabi/CoraLibre-android-sdk @fdroidorg @chrysn
@VictorVenema @fdroidorg @chrysn Das Robert-Koch-Institut und das Bundesgesundheitsministerium
@ulrichkelber @VictorVenema @fdroidorg @chrysn und direkt die Entwickler anschreiben. Aber ich glaube die FOSS-Bib ist auch noch nicht fertig, oder?
@benni Genau, es ist noch nicht fertig. https://github.com/theScrabi/CoraLibre-android-sdk
Deswegen habe ich gedacht, dass der Bund helfen könnte dies fertig zu programmieren. Volksgesundheit ist eine staatliche Aufgabe.
@ulrichkelber @fdroidorg @chrysn
incidentally, I am also puzzled by the declared maintainance costs...
> "The German government says the app cost €20 million ($22.7 million) to develop, and that it will need about €3 million per month to operate. "
3 mln per month? but how? https://m.dw.com/en/germany-launches-best-coronavirus-tracing-app/a-53825213
@fdroidorg
Well....good!
@fdroidorg time to invest some time and money into real open-source! Linux together with phones as Librem 5 & PinePhone awaiting new users :)
You can read about the api usage terms here: https://blog.google/documents/72/Exposure_Notifications_Service_Additional_Terms.pdf
And more generally about how the whole system works here: https://www.google.com/covid19/exposurenotifications/