> What Amazon forked is not the Android the licencees like Samsung use.
Of course it is. It doesn't come with the Play suite of apps and services, but the code you see in the open source repository is exactly the same as what Samsung gets.
AOSP is open source. GMS is not. Samsung required GMS to make a commercially viable Android handset that consumers recognize as Android.
Therefore the Android that Samsung (and the other Android makers outside china) licenses is obviously not open-source. This is why Pichai and Google have leverage.
Of course it is. It doesn't come with the Play suite of apps and services, but the code you see in the open source repository is exactly the same as what Samsung gets.