On 27 Nov 2013, at 2:54 pm, Petros <Petros.Listig@fdrive.com.au> wrote:
I bought a ZTE phone with Firefox on it (from eBay for ca. $90, still on the way to me), mostly out of curiosity.
I am curious about it, how much of it is "vanilla Linux" and userland, how to get a shell, how to extend it, how to update etc.
Likely none of it is “vanilla Linux”. I’m guessing it is running Android (knowing it runs Android will likely help with your Google-fu!). By default, retail Android phones are locked down with no form of shell or root access. Think of an Android as a completely new OS that happens to use the Linux kernel, with almost no traditional Linux userland. The “apps” you run on it, such as Firefox, are glorified Java packages, and by default only signed packages downloaded through the Google Play Store are allowed (this can be overridden on most phones, although the manufacturer is free to break this functionality). This helps reduce malware and increase usability at the cost of freedom. Here is the developer portal for Firefox on Android if you’re curious to download the source code: <https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_for_Android> To get a root shell on an Android phone, you must “root” it. Close to no manufacturers officially support this, so to “root” the phone you must run an exploit against it. The exploit varies upon device manufacturer, model, and OS version, so you will need to do your own research here. Nobody will support you if you do this, so only do it if you are prepared to support yourself, including de-bricking your phone if you break it. If you are a developer looking to do cool hacks with your phone, rooting is an awesome idea. If you are a normal person or geek looking to use your phone as, well, a phone, then don’t root it. Buy an ordinary PC and you get root on that by default without any exploits.