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Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

hacks.mozilla.org

1–10 of 48 posts

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#2
Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed.

If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take.

- the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice.

- the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms

- current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern

- it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc)

Ultimately it's not ready yet for daily usage for me, personally, but I suggest you check it out, give it a spin. I'm impressed how fast it improved already and hope to use the Flame as my default phone in the next couple month.

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#4

Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed. If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take. - the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice. - the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms - current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern - it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc) Ultimately it's not…

The Flame is solid mid-range hardware and running Firefox OS 2.1 on it is pretty smooth. If you're a hacker type (presumably you are because you're reading Hacker News) and you don't have a heavy dependence on any particular app that isn't yet available for Firefox OS, it's ready or very nearly ready for you.

If you're an app hacker, the Flame is the device for you. It's globally available for $145 + $25 S&H at http://www.everbuying.com/product549652.html

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#5

Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed. If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take. - the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice. - the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms - current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern - it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc) Ultimately it's not…

> If you think about purchasing a device

don't.

the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performance on the emulator is MUCH better than the real device.

it is just more waste in the world.

Also, if anyone want a couple firefox phones msg me. i have a couple left. i got them when i believed that since they were going to be sold in stores, they would be consumer ready... and hence i needed to support them on my site... big mistake on all accounts. to being with they are not consumer ready. and it was close to impossible to find them in stores (despite them being advertised on billboards all over the city)

anyway, if you want a phone, msg me. i have a few left. be warned that is harder to flash than a re-purposed android phone. much. much harder. (extremely closed components and hard to crate kernels)

This is not hate on the project. just on their careless aggressiveness to go to market. the project has lots of future. just take your time before polluting the world with pure garbage.

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#6
it's all hacks and fun until you realize you now can't run any extension or global change in the 'browser'. :(

though another hack should be able to take of this easily... maybe even without forcing extension authors to change their extensions...

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#7
post #5

Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed. If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take. - the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice. - the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms - current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern - it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc) Ultimately it's not…

> If you think about purchasing a device don't. the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performance on the emulator is MUCH better than the real device. it is just more waste in the world. Also, if anyone want a couple firefox phones msg me. i have a couple left. i got them when i believed that since they were going to be sold in stores, they would be consu…

Hmm.. I know I can only comment on the Flame, but your trouble with flashing seems odd.

Update sources? git pull; ./repo sync -d

Build from source? ./build.sh

Flash to device? ,/flash.sh

Done. Device reboots into a shiny new version. I couldn't imagine an easier way tbh.

Regarding the rest of your comment: I do have pain points¹. I was a bit disappointed at times. But the progress is good and the current state (git, not what my flame came with, 1.3) looks very, very promising.

1: Keyboard's UX decision to be all caps (a la iPhone), lack of a working xmpp client, lack of a mail client w/ idle (mandatory) and server side search (optional but really helpful) support. Solve these and I need no apps/a different platform.

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#8
post #5

Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed. If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take. - the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice. - the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms - current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern - it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc) Ultimately it's not…

> If you think about purchasing a device don't. the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performance on the emulator is MUCH better than the real device. it is just more waste in the world. Also, if anyone want a couple firefox phones msg me. i have a couple left. i got them when i believed that since they were going to be sold in stores, they would be consu…

I've been building my ZTE Open since pretty close to its initially release. I also use it as my daily device.

Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason?

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#9
post #5

Love some Firefox OS exposure. I'm a fan, really want to see the idea/project to succeed. If you think about purchasing a device, here's my take. - the Flame feels really solid and looks quite nice. - the performance is nice/comparable to other platforms - current version (running from git here) of the OS looks nice and modern - it is trivial to build and install it (given a supported device ofc) Ultimately it's not…

> If you think about purchasing a device don't. the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performance on the emulator is MUCH better than the real device. it is just more waste in the world. Also, if anyone want a couple firefox phones msg me. i have a couple left. i got them when i believed that since they were going to be sold in stores, they would be consu…

100% spot on. Too many features missing. The flashing procedure is problematic as well (for the ZTE "open" C you need a custom patch found in a bug report, and you have to be extremely carefull not to brick the device.)

I purchased a ZTE Open C just to try out Firefox and the internet browsing experience. You can't change tabs unless you scroll all the way to the top, otherwise the address bar is hidden. Needless to say, browsing becomes very taxing if you're viewing even moderately large pages.

Re: Building the Firefox browser for Firefox OS

#10
I'm super excited to see improvements in the built-in App Manager in Firefox's developer tools. Hopefully it becomes a novice-friendly IDE that allows you to quickly start a new app, add some dependencies (jQuery, tweetNaCl, etc.), and start coding.

Having a built-in IDE significantly lowers the barriers for locals in developing countries to quickly make apps that apply to their local community.

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