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I know that Intex will soon be shipping (currently is shipping?) phones with SailfishOS (Jolla's OS). I've been using SailfishOS for almost two years, and I co

by maheart 10y ago

I know that Intex will soon be shipping (currently is shipping?) phones with SailfishOS (Jolla's OS). I've been using SailfishOS for almost two years, and I confidently say that underneath the GUI, it is just a regular GNU/Linux system[1]. Why do I bring this up? Jolla, and the community are developing a more inclusive mobile OS (that has Android app compatibility, and can be ported to Android devices relatively easily using libhyris[2]). I'm hopeful that it will help minimise the hackery described in the article. For example, SailfishOS ships with Gecko engine v31 at the moment (soon to be updated...), QtWebkit, and (soon, after the port to Qt5.6 is complete), QtWebEngine (Chromium). I'm hopeful that more Indian (and Chinese) phone manufacturers can start contracts with Jolla. I'm not aware of any software houses (as opposed to internal) that customise Android for your device. [1] glibc, systemd, BlueZ, Pulseaudio, gstreamer, connman, Telepathy, Python, gcc, Qt, etc. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybris_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybris_%28software%29

sreenadh 10y ago
Which device are you using for your SailfishOS? I am planning to install it on my Nexus 5.
- maheart 10y ago
  I'm using the first Jolla phone. Note, that if you use the 3rd party port of SailfishOS on your Nexus5, it doesn't come with the Myriad/Alien, Android compatibility layer. The community however has developed and released sfdroid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOU8fa0ZLT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOU8fa0ZLT0
skykooler 10y ago
One thing to note there - currently Android compatibility is only available on Jolla phones, not third-party ports, due to their licensing agreement with Myriad. Hopefully, any official releases on third-party phones will be able to include it as well.
- maheart 10y ago
  > Hopefully, any official releases on third-party phones will be able to include it as well. Yes, while I have no official word (I'm just a fan), I think this will be the case. As long as it's an official port done by Jolla, Myriad/Alien Dalvik should be available.
notatoad 10y ago
i don't see how a more open OS will reduce any of the silly hackery that OEMs do. the problem is not that android is somehow not "inclusive", it's that android allows vendors to ship a modified browser for whatever silly reason they want to, and the vendor never releases any updates for the modifications they provide. unless Jolla is going to take over control of the phone and ship software updates directly to consumers without involving the handset vendors, they aren't going to solve the problem.

by maheart 10y ago

sreenadh 10y ago

Which device are you using for your SailfishOS? I am planning to install it on my Nexus 5.

maheart 10y ago
I'm using the first Jolla phone. Note, that if you use the 3rd party port of SailfishOS on your Nexus5, it doesn't come with the Myriad/Alien, Android compatibility layer. The community however has developed and released sfdroid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOU8fa0ZLT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOU8fa0ZLT0

skykooler 10y ago

One thing to note there - currently Android compatibility is only available on Jolla phones, not third-party ports, due to their licensing agreement with Myriad. Hopefully, any official releases on third-party phones will be able to include it as well.

maheart 10y ago
> Hopefully, any official releases on third-party phones will be able to include it as well. Yes, while I have no official word (I'm just a fan), I think this will be the case. As long as it's an official port done by Jolla, Myriad/Alien Dalvik should be available.

notatoad 10y ago

i don't see how a more open OS will reduce any of the silly hackery that OEMs do. the problem is not that android is somehow not "inclusive", it's that android allows vendors to ship a modified browser for whatever silly reason they want to, and the vendor never releases any updates for the modifications they provide. unless Jolla is going to take over control of the phone and ship software updates directly to consumers without involving the handset vendors, they aren't going to solve the problem.