Android is an open platform, but watch out: It includes a lot of proprietary apps, including Google’s.

A popular Android hacker found out the hard way when he received a cease-and-desist letter from Google for his latest modification of the Android OS. Steve Kondik, also known as “Cyanogen”, has been distributing a version of the Android firmware that includes multitouch and other capabilities not included in the base version. Google took exception to his inclusion of code owned by the search giant and sent him a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop distributing it.

Kondik’s story created an uproar within the Android community and raised questions about how much the Android OS relied on closed-source applications for its functionality. That’s because the base of the platform is indeed open source, but without the applications that run on top of it, it’s not very useful to consumers.

However, the controversy has sparked constructive discussions about the future of Android, and has even motivated Google to extend a helping hand to independent developers.

In 2007, Google, along with 47 other companies, formed the Open Handset Alliance to oversee the first free, open mobile platform to accelerate innovation in the mobile ecosystem. The Android Open-Source Project became the platform of OHA, allowing enthusiast developers to freely contribute and improve the mobile experience for others.

Google stated Kondik was illegally distributing closed-source applications within his revamped Android OS.  These closed-source applications include Gmail, Maps, gTalk, YouTube, Market, Contact Sync and other essential services — what many people, perhaps naively, may consider to be the heart of the OS.

Google’s legal action most likely stemmed from the latest CyanogenMOD update, which included Google’s not-yet-released upgrade to the Android Market. An excerpt from a statement on the official Android Developer blog clarified the line between Android and Google’s proprietary applications :

“These apps are Google’s way of benefiting from Android in the same way that any other developer can, but the apps are not part of the Android platform itself,” Google’s Dan Morrill said on the company’s developer blog.

The situation even irked an engineer within Google, Jean Baptiste Queru, who tweeted, “To my Apple , Microsoft and Palm buddies: are you hiring to work on mobile stuff?”

However, Queru later moved the discussion in a more constructive direction, tweeting a link to a Google Group post where he calls on the Android community to help improve Android, asking “Who’s with me?”

The Android engineers at Google are now making available previously unreleased components — makefiles and configuration files — that will give independent developers the ability to create Android releases in the same manner that Google does, but without using Google’s proprietary apps. These engineers are working with volunteers from the community and have already begun working on alternatives to the proprietary Google applications .  Meanwhile, other developers have formed a new group, the Open Android Alliance and they, too, are working on building alternatives to Google’s applications .

Eventually, these tools should allow developers to create working versions of Android that work “out of the box,” something that is currently very difficult to do.

According to Kondik’s latest blog post, he is working around the setback by building a backup tool that will let users of vanilla Android distributions save a copy of their existing applications .

Then, after installing Kondik’s Cyanogen mod, they can restore their apps and continue using them — without having downloaded them from Kondik’s site.

“There are lots of things we can do as end-users and modders, though, without violating anyone’s rights. Most importantly, we are entitled to back up our software,” Kondik wrote.

Photo credit: Andareed/Wikicommons