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Companies providing operating systems is a clear conflict of interest. Evidence: the tragic state of the entire mobile ecosystem, where no hardware can be fully

by gue5t 8y ago

Companies providing operating systems is a clear conflict of interest. Evidence: the tragic state of the entire mobile ecosystem, where no hardware can be fully utilized by (or even make calls with) an open-source OS. This article also fails to mention Tizen. Has it been abandoned? It was absolutely terrible (millions upon millions of lines of the worst C code I've ever perused) but I thought it still existed, making vaguely similar claims to open-sourcehood as SailfishOS. The real mobile OS to watch and advocate for is postmarketOS, which attempts to get mainline Linux kernels working on phones.

matte_black 8y ago
I fail to see how this is much of a problem.
- gue5t 8y ago
  In case you were asking how it might be a problem, look at some of its effects on the status quo: Forced obsolescence, pervasive spyware/security problems, being locked into an "app" ecosystem, user-hostile antifeatures, lack of modifiability to deal with hardware degradation over time, etc.
  - matte_black 8y ago
    All those are things a person can live with if all they want is a communication device that runs apps and browses the web.
    - stallmanite 8y ago
      Pervasive spyware is not a problem?
      - squarefoot 8y ago
        Those used to tell online everything about their life down to the details could even consider it a service.
pjmlp 8y ago
Oh, Tizen, I guess you are not up to date with it. After throwing away the C++ libraries and going to that C code you mention, they have decided to offer .NET Core + Xamarin as alternative to those C++ libraries. Which I agree is much better than Bada C++ style libraries, but reveals they aren't sure where to go next. Then at FOSDEM they introduced an IoT OS based on NuttX + JerryScript, and called it Tizen RT, even though it isn't anything Tizen related. https://wiki.tizen.org/Tizen_RT https://wiki.tizen.org/Tizen_RT
- ethbro 8y ago
  Missed opportunity to call it TizenScript.
icc97 8y ago
> Companies providing operating systems is a clear conflict of interest. I think based on your argument that Redhat and Ubuntu are reasonable reasonable counterexamples.
squarefoot 8y ago
"where no hardware can be fully utilized by (or even make calls with) an open-source OS." Blame hardware manufacturers for this. If they released open specs (not even the drivers sources, just the specs would suffice) of their devices we could have full alternative OS installations in months after each device release, giving new life to old devices and much higher security to newer ones.
chupasaurus 8y ago
Purism is making a phone on top of usual Linux distros (i.e. they are tinkering with Debian Buster on dev boards) with only open source drivers.
- exadeci 8y ago
  Unfortunately, they've been underdelivering their products so far.
  - chupasaurus 8y ago
    The reason for that is a rapid increase of orders as shown in their last report [0], as well as only 15" laptops are not shipped in full. [0] https://puri.sm/posts/librem-laptop-orders-now-shipping-within-a-week/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem-laptop-orders-now-shipping-with...

by gue5t 8y ago

matte_black 8y ago

I fail to see how this is much of a problem.

gue5t 8y ago
In case you were asking how it might be a problem, look at some of its effects on the status quo: Forced obsolescence, pervasive spyware/security problems, being locked into an "app" ecosystem, user-hostile antifeatures, lack of modifiability to deal with hardware degradation over time, etc.
- matte_black 8y ago
  All those are things a person can live with if all they want is a communication device that runs apps and browses the web.
  - stallmanite 8y ago
    Pervasive spyware is not a problem?
    - squarefoot 8y ago
      Those used to tell online everything about their life down to the details could even consider it a service.

pjmlp 8y ago

Oh, Tizen, I guess you are not up to date with it. After throwing away the C++ libraries and going to that C code you mention, they have decided to offer .NET Core + Xamarin as alternative to those C++ libraries. Which I agree is much better than Bada C++ style libraries, but reveals they aren't sure where to go next. Then at FOSDEM they introduced an IoT OS based on NuttX + JerryScript, and called it Tizen RT, even though it isn't anything Tizen related. https://wiki.tizen.org/Tizen_RT https://wiki.tizen.org/Tizen_RT

ethbro 8y ago
Missed opportunity to call it TizenScript.

icc97 8y ago

> Companies providing operating systems is a clear conflict of interest. I think based on your argument that Redhat and Ubuntu are reasonable reasonable counterexamples.

squarefoot 8y ago

"where no hardware can be fully utilized by (or even make calls with) an open-source OS." Blame hardware manufacturers for this. If they released open specs (not even the drivers sources, just the specs would suffice) of their devices we could have full alternative OS installations in months after each device release, giving new life to old devices and much higher security to newer ones.

chupasaurus 8y ago

Purism is making a phone on top of usual Linux distros (i.e. they are tinkering with Debian Buster on dev boards) with only open source drivers.

exadeci 8y ago
Unfortunately, they've been underdelivering their products so far.
- chupasaurus 8y ago
  The reason for that is a rapid increase of orders as shown in their last report [0], as well as only 15" laptops are not shipped in full. [0] https://puri.sm/posts/librem-laptop-orders-now-shipping-within-a-week/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem-laptop-orders-now-shipping-with...