Android, the linux to Apple's Windows?

Interesting article here about the role that Android really plays for Google. Money quote:-

Android is the only thing that has prevented Apple from completely taking over the mobile market.  All Google ever hoped to do was provide a shell-shocked smartphone industry with the tools to build a credible alternative to the iPhone that didn’t come with Apple’s tight-fisted control. 

This does align with Google's previous, often-cited statement that "open always wins", and that Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple are creating short-term money-grabbers, rather than sustainable business ecosystems.  Which is easy to say when your revenue stream is based on billboards everywhere on the information superhighway.