Boot2Gecko demo & quick hack • Hacker News Board

Re: Boot2Gecko demo & quick hack

#21

Post by robot » Tue, Jun 12, 2012, 10:13 AM UTC

mcot2 wrote: post #9

programminggeek wrote: post #6

I like the idea of Boot2Gecko, but it's 100% pointless as a project. We had a shot to have a pure web based OS with webOS, and absent awesome hardware and marketing nobody bought it. Mozilla building their own Firefox version of webOS is not going to make this kind of thing successful. Great devices are a marriage of hardware and software. Focus too much on one at the peril of the other. Shipping an OS to basically c…

I actually started to write a response to this post about how WebOS and this project seem totally different in terms of the companies involved and being open source from the start, but then I thought more about it... This project doesn't really feel like mozilla is trying to compete with Android or iOS in terms of developing a traditional mobile operating system. It almost feels like mozilla is trying to lay down the…

IMHO the underlying technology has no significance. People still write native iOS apps even though HTML5 is available. Nobody will say oh they used javascript and web for every thing I must use/develop for this phone.

Re: Boot2Gecko demo & quick hack

#22

Post by mtgx » Tue, Jun 12, 2012, 12:46 PM UTC

joelanman wrote: post #20

programminggeek wrote: post #6

I like the idea of Boot2Gecko, but it's 100% pointless as a project. We had a shot to have a pure web based OS with webOS, and absent awesome hardware and marketing nobody bought it. Mozilla building their own Firefox version of webOS is not going to make this kind of thing successful. Great devices are a marriage of hardware and software. Focus too much on one at the peril of the other. Shipping an OS to basically c…

As far as I understand, B2G feel that their USP is performance on lower-spec phones, for use in the developing world. Yes, you can get cheap Android phones, but they generally run like crap. I think B2G are aiming for sub $100 smart phones that actually run the web and web apps/games well. Good luck to them - its an admirable aim.

That's a nice theory. But so far I haven't seen a single demo of B2G running on "low-end hardware". I've only seen it running on last year's high-end Galaxy S2 phone, which still costs like $500 unlocked.

I also don't know how Javascript can possibly run any faster than Java apps, especially on low-end hardware. Unless all you're showing is a webpage with text?

Show me B2G on a 600 Mhz ARM11 CPU phone, that's faster than Android, and then I'll buy it.

Re: Boot2Gecko demo & quick hack

#23

Post by joelanman » Tue, Jun 12, 2012, 4:57 PM UTC

mtgx wrote: post #22

joelanman wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I understand, B2G feel that their USP is performance on lower-spec phones, for use in the developing world. Yes, you can get cheap Android phones, but they generally run like crap. I think B2G are aiming for sub $100 smart phones that actually run the web and web apps/games well. Good luck to them - its an admirable aim.

That's a nice theory. But so far I haven't seen a single demo of B2G running on "low-end hardware". I've only seen it running on last year's high-end Galaxy S2 phone, which still costs like $500 unlocked. I also don't know how Javascript can possibly run any faster than Java apps, especially on low-end hardware. Unless all you're showing is a webpage with text? Show me B2G on a 600 Mhz ARM11 CPU phone, that's faster…

I agree, but I guess if the future really is web apps, then it doesn't matter how fast Android runs Java? Web rendering is everything in that situation.