Wait, isn’t RNDIS what’s used when you tether your Android’s connection via USB? Or am I mistaking it for something else?
Yes, and it’s still in new phones. They’re being disingenuous saying that it’s android phones don’t use it.
So I may not be able to use ADB and Fastboot anymore after I get the kernel update?
That’s different protocols. This is only about the one being used when you share your phone’s connection via USB (tethering). Neither adb nor fastboot make use of this.
Also, starting with Android 14, there should be an alternative available with NCM.
Well a14 is not that common but I’ve never heard of tethering before (except for WiFi tethering that improves connection) so I guess it’s not important.
It’s not about improving a connection, but making your phone’s network connection available to other devices. USB tethering creates a network device at
/dev/usb...
that behaves like an any ordinary network device, allowing you to create a connection using it. Wi-Fi tethering creates a hotspot similar to what your router at home does.So now you can’t use USB hotspots on Linux? Yea mainstream has gone pretty evil then tbh. They didn’t even stop at the previous drama.
There’s no such thing as USB hotspots, that’s a term for WiFi. Also you can still use the NMC protocol if your Android version is recent enough. Just not RNDIS anymore. It’s an insecure Microsoft protocol, though this probably wouldn’t have mattered for a lot of people.