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Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

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Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#331

Post by cmrdporcupine »

deaddodo wrote: post #302
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot WebOS, which has been open sourced since HP killed it. There was a brief flurry of activity around it, including getting it run on older Nexus devices, then it petered out. I submit that a big part of the problem is fragmentation of effort. There was no reason for Ubuntu, Mozilla, and WebOS all to be aiming at the same target at the same time in very similar ways but by different people.

WebOS is licensed out to LG these days for their Smart TV's. It's still the commercial deal it's been since HP bought it from Palm. Open WebOS is a different beast (much like how Mozilla wasn't Netscape Navigator), based on the open sourced components of WebOS.

Well sure, but Open WebOS was complete enough to boot on Galaxy Nexus and provide a mostly complete environment.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#332

Post by freehunter »

truth_sentinell wrote: post #254
freehunter wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left Windows Phone because of the hardware. I couldn't stand the capacitive buttons anymore, so I switched to an iPhone since it was the only flagship phone without capacitive system buttons. There is nothing that replaces Windows Phone live tiles though. The closest you can get is widgets but it's not even close to the same. There's no Twitter widget on iOS, for example. And the widget section is a completely diff…

I don't understand if you like Windows Phone so much why didn't you get a phone with on-screen buttons? I have a Microsoft Lumia 640 and with the buttons on the screen, you can swipe up and hide the button bar, so it doesn't get in the way. I'm actually trying to get rid of it and move because Window Phone 10's UX is a mess. Nothing makes sense, and apparently most developers don't have a clue about UX in the WP10 ec…

On-screen buttons are capacitive buttons.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#333

Post by adzm »

djsumdog wrote: post #311
nix0n wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean AOSP (Android Open Source Project) not ASOP (the linked article makes the same typo).

Wow...I even spelled it out at one point and still screwed it up while abbreviating it! Thanks man. I'll fix it. :)

I habitually think of it as 'aesop' of the fables fame in my head, even though I know it's inaccurate. Hard habit to break. Like eye-terator instead of it-erator.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#334

Post by qplex »

coldtea wrote: post #318
qplex wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually being "free/open/libre" software has had everything to do with the success of Linux. However, I've heard the high cost of UNIX licenses in the early 90s was the reason why Linus decided to start his project. Also, Linux has never been "a failure" on the desktop: you seem to think that the definition of being successful is to have a complete monopoly.

>Also, Linux has never been "a failure" on the desktop: you seem to think that the definition of being successful is to have a complete monopoly. Complete strawman. First, I used the Linux advocates' own definition of "success": Linux overtaking MS on the desktop, and the fabled and continuously moving "Year of Linux on the desktop". Which never happened. Second, what "complete monopoly" rubbish, which I never allude…

I get somewhat weary when I hear somebody say that "Linux is a failure on x because..."

Anyway, where did you get that definition? It is the view of the Linux Zealot. To say that it some sort of general definition is just silly.

You also seem to think that if an operating system is free (as in cost?) people would automatically go for it. That is simply false.

In any case I think Linux will outlive Windows. Windows is pinned on one single player and Linux is has reach over many.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#335

Post by qplex »

coldtea wrote: post #318
qplex wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually being "free/open/libre" software has had everything to do with the success of Linux. However, I've heard the high cost of UNIX licenses in the early 90s was the reason why Linus decided to start his project. Also, Linux has never been "a failure" on the desktop: you seem to think that the definition of being successful is to have a complete monopoly.

>Also, Linux has never been "a failure" on the desktop: you seem to think that the definition of being successful is to have a complete monopoly. Complete strawman. First, I used the Linux advocates' own definition of "success": Linux overtaking MS on the desktop, and the fabled and continuously moving "Year of Linux on the desktop". Which never happened. Second, what "complete monopoly" rubbish, which I never allude…

And with "compete monopoly" I was referring to Microsoft who has abused its position on the market multiple times to thwart competition.

You have to understand that "Linux" differs greatly from Microsoft Windows(R) because of its philosophical underpinnings of being "free as in freedom" software.

BTW I've heard the market share of Linux on the desktop has steadily been rising for the past few years... just give it some time ;)

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#336

Post by abawany »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #320
abawany wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are fake GApps that I have tried on experimental devices and they fooled the apps enough to enable them to run. I haven't run these long-term or tried on more than 3 apps relevant to me to say if that would be a good approach.

I'd be a little iffy about security considerations once your plan is to rely on "fake apps".

I am not referring to mysterious binary blobs retrieved from torrents or such but open source projects such as https://github.com/thermatk/FakeGApps (http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.thermatk.android.xf.fakeg...).

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#337

Post by truth_sentinell »

freehunter wrote: post #332
truth_sentinell wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand if you like Windows Phone so much why didn't you get a phone with on-screen buttons? I have a Microsoft Lumia 640 and with the buttons on the screen, you can swipe up and hide the button bar, so it doesn't get in the way. I'm actually trying to get rid of it and move because Window Phone 10's UX is a mess. Nothing makes sense, and apparently most developers don't have a clue about UX in the WP10 ec…

On-screen buttons are capacitive buttons.

I did some research and all I could find related to capacitive was buttons out of the screen. But like I said before, you can hide the buttons bar, so it you would have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen and then touch the windows button to get to the live title stuff.. So I don't find your reason enough to do what you did, but anyway, it's your life! I'm looking forward to get my hands on IOS and see what's like

Edit: I was amazed by LG's UI on android 4.4. It's fucking cool. Those guys know how to make life easy and pretty for folks. It is actually a 14 bucks phone that kicks 100++ bucks phone assess

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#338

Post by brudgers »

bartread wrote: post #323
brudgers wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't count Microsoft out of the space over the long term. Unification of the Windows platform from microcontrollers to servers is fairly far along and mobile phone operating systems are, for Microsoft, just another application of the Windows 10 technology. Windows 10 Mobile has some of the advantages of iOS in terms of security updates and the Microsoft developer infrastructure -- whether that's a good thing depen…

True - they seem determined to plug away at mobile until they make a success of it, and fair play to them: Windows 10 Mobile is decent. They've obviously got an uphill battle ahead of them to win back developers and customers but I think they can do it eventually. I'd still like to see a credible OSS alternative in the mix as well, and I wonder if Mozilla couldn't make that work if they dropped their low-end focus.

Ubuntu's Snappy-Core grew out of their brief run at the phone: http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/devices

It has some parallels with Microsoft's strategy and could roll back into phones as just another device. And I think that getting a platform that works from embedded to server clusters has a good chance of how provisioning phones works ten years from now.

There's really nothing magical about phones. It's some compute cores, a bit of memory, some radios, a battery and a display. The only distinguishing feature of a phone is how the radio is tuned.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#339

Post by dredmorbius »

twblalock wrote: post #281
yoavm wrote: post #6

So we had Jolla, Ubuntu, Mozilla and even Microsoft trying to create a new major player in the mobile OSs market - all pretty much failed to do so. Is it practically impossible? Are we stuck with Android and iOS forever? This tiny selection of options worries me.

> Is it practically impossible? Are we stuck with Android and iOS forever? I think it's pretty simple: people want to use apps on their phones, and no phone OS is viable without a competitive library of apps. Most major apps are developed for both iOS and Android, and convincing app developers to develop for a third platform is going to be a tough sell, unless that platform is very attractive to users. However, to be…

People aren't interested in backups. They're interested in restores.

People aren't interested in apps. They're interested in capabilities.

The apps markets are good for ... delivering a completely dizzying (that is: intentionally discombobulating and confusing) array of crappy software that sometimes works, always intrudes on your privacy and steals your personal information, and frequently goes titsup.com for no particular reason and with limited notice.

I don't want apps.

I want decent browsing capabilities with document management.

I want explicit control over networking.

I want a messaging capability. SMS, IRC, eMail, whatever -- there's no reason these need to be split out.

I want a multimedia player.

A basic set of utilities. The same ones as were on the Xerox Alto 48 years ago: A calendar, calculator, notepad type editor. Basic spreadsheet wouldn't hurt.

These days something with maps and an encyclopedia would be handy. Stills/video camera and gallery.

And since I'm not the 99.98%, I'd like a goddamned full-fledged shell running Linux or BSD.

But StuffMyCrapWebsiteIntoThisApp.com? Not so much.

Re: Mozilla has stopped all commercial development on Firefox OS

#340

Post by emodendroket »

hamhamed wrote: post #314
emodendroket wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? What are all these desktop e-mail clients other than Thunderbird, Outlook, and Mail.app? And how many of them are cross-platform? I remember looking into whether there were alternatives for a while and really not being able to find anything.

Nylas, Polymail.. just to name a few

So a tool specialized for sales professionals (apparently) and a Mac-only product. Well, you can see what I mean.
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