Free as in Phone

We had another great First Friday presentation from Shawn on privilege escalation on Android devices.

Click image to see Shawn's slides

I learned lots, especially about the legal aspects. Thanks to some precedent setting rulings, you've got every right to root your phone (because of the impact on the resale value no less). Also, the top 10 lists for Android and iOS that Shawn mentioned are pretty compelling.

J. enjoying freedom on the electronic frontier

The "killer app" for me is being able to scp from my phone to my desktop just like I would from any old linux box (I've already got ConnectBot so just ssh'ing is no sweat), apparently you need to be root to be able to get that functionality. I've heard lots of folks say the tethering/wifi access point functionality is the clincher for them. Leave links in the comments to other cool stuff you've done on your rooted phone.

Lots of great references to learn more linked in the slides; take a look.