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Firefox OS devices will be first opened to the markets of the following countries: Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Vene

Firefox OS devices will be first opened to the markets of the following countries: Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. Wow this is the first global company I've seen opening up first to countries outside Western Europe + US/Canada. I wonder what the motivation for that is.

liquidsnake 14y ago
Probably the target consumers. From what I saw they're targeting the lower end of smartphones with cheaper devices and people in developing countries such as most of those above are more likely to buy something like that compared to US/Canada or Western Europe, where more people afford higher end devices.
joelthelion 14y ago
As much as I want them to succeed, I don't think they have a chance in the western world if they don't polish their OS a bit first. I think this is exactly what they are trying to achieve by releasing the OS this way.
- PommeDeTerre 14y ago
  I think success requires much more than just some polish. Based on the information available so far, it sounds like a very unappealing platform for developers. As a developer, you're essentially stuck using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I think this will drive away the best developers, who much prefer to use robust, mature languages like Java or Objective-C, rather than JavaScript. Likewise, the native frameworks of Android and iOS, for example, are much more pleasant and powerful to use than HTML and CSS. It's not a recipe for success when good developers are driven away by a lousy technology stack. These are the developers that create the apps that really make a difference. Sure, a mediocre web developer may be able to create yet another to-do app for Firefox OS using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but the value in what they produce is extremely minimal. Without good apps, users will want nothing to do with it. Even then, it looks doubtful that this will offer any real benefit over the numerous existing mobile platforms. With it so unclear why developers would want to adopt it, and with it so unclear why users would want to adopt it, it just looks so much like a dead end.
  - mccr8 14y ago
    With or without FirefoxOS, people are developing web apps. If somebody has a nice web app already, maybe they will look into whatever little bit of adaptation is needed for FirefoxOS.
  - alistair77 14y ago
    "when good developers are driven away by a lousy technology stack". This fear of JavaScript and a web stack says a lot more about you than the technologies. There are a huge number of good developers creating great software with these languages. Coming from a Java and C# background, learning JavaScript has been a real joy and made me a much better developer. In my experience, the best developers become productive in new languages very quickly.
    - PommeDeTerre 14y ago
      Oh, I don't "fear" JavaScript. It's quite the opposite situation. I have many years of experience with it, from using it with Netscape Enterprise Server in the 1990s, to browser-based development, to more recent server-side development. Luckily, I also have many years of experience with many other programming languages and platforms. I can see quite easily how poorly JavaScript stacks up against them. As an industry, we can do better. We have done better. It's not encouraging to see Firefox OS limit itself to the worst options available, when so much better could be done.
      - alistair77 14y ago
        Given Mozilla's goals for Firefox OS can you explain how these web technologies are anything but the best option? If you think that Java, C# or Objective C would have been better choices you've misunderstood what they're trying to achieve [hint: it's about creating a mobile OS by extending the world's most widely used technology stack].
      - kybernetikos 14y ago
        By inclination I like languages that have seriously clever type systems, but I hardly ever write code in anything that is not javascript these days, and the reason for that is that javascript can be run easily almost anywhere. I know that if I write some useful code in javascript, I will not have to rewrite it. You can't really say the same thing about any other language.
hexagonc 14y ago
Spain is in Western Europe
- hakaaaaak 14y ago
  Spiritually it may as well not be. They usually stand on their own and stay out of the news when it comes to politics of Western Europe as a whole, since they were kept out of the UN post WWII. The biggest tie to the rest of Western Europe recently is that of organized crime; the Garduña of old evolved into the Comorra of today, well known across Europe, especially in Italy, obviously.
- diegocg 14y ago
  Telefónica, the main spanish telco company, is one of the Firefox OS partners.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]

liquidsnake 14y ago

Probably the target consumers. From what I saw they're targeting the lower end of smartphones with cheaper devices and people in developing countries such as most of those above are more likely to buy something like that compared to US/Canada or Western Europe, where more people afford higher end devices.

joelthelion 14y ago

As much as I want them to succeed, I don't think they have a chance in the western world if they don't polish their OS a bit first. I think this is exactly what they are trying to achieve by releasing the OS this way.

PommeDeTerre 14y ago
I think success requires much more than just some polish. Based on the information available so far, it sounds like a very unappealing platform for developers. As a developer, you're essentially stuck using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I think this will drive away the best developers, who much prefer to use robust, mature languages like Java or Objective-C, rather than JavaScript. Likewise, the native frameworks of Android and iOS, for example, are much more pleasant and powerful to use than HTML and CSS. It's not a recipe for success when good developers are driven away by a lousy technology stack. These are the developers that create the apps that really make a difference. Sure, a mediocre web developer may be able to create yet another to-do app for Firefox OS using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but the value in what they produce is extremely minimal. Without good apps, users will want nothing to do with it. Even then, it looks doubtful that this will offer any real benefit over the numerous existing mobile platforms. With it so unclear why developers would want to adopt it, and with it so unclear why users would want to adopt it, it just looks so much like a dead end.
- mccr8 14y ago
  With or without FirefoxOS, people are developing web apps. If somebody has a nice web app already, maybe they will look into whatever little bit of adaptation is needed for FirefoxOS.
- alistair77 14y ago
  "when good developers are driven away by a lousy technology stack". This fear of JavaScript and a web stack says a lot more about you than the technologies. There are a huge number of good developers creating great software with these languages. Coming from a Java and C# background, learning JavaScript has been a real joy and made me a much better developer. In my experience, the best developers become productive in new languages very quickly.
  - PommeDeTerre 14y ago
    Oh, I don't "fear" JavaScript. It's quite the opposite situation. I have many years of experience with it, from using it with Netscape Enterprise Server in the 1990s, to browser-based development, to more recent server-side development. Luckily, I also have many years of experience with many other programming languages and platforms. I can see quite easily how poorly JavaScript stacks up against them. As an industry, we can do better. We have done better. It's not encouraging to see Firefox OS limit itself to the worst options available, when so much better could be done.
    - alistair77 14y ago
      Given Mozilla's goals for Firefox OS can you explain how these web technologies are anything but the best option? If you think that Java, C# or Objective C would have been better choices you've misunderstood what they're trying to achieve [hint: it's about creating a mobile OS by extending the world's most widely used technology stack].
    - kybernetikos 14y ago
      By inclination I like languages that have seriously clever type systems, but I hardly ever write code in anything that is not javascript these days, and the reason for that is that javascript can be run easily almost anywhere. I know that if I write some useful code in javascript, I will not have to rewrite it. You can't really say the same thing about any other language.

hexagonc 14y ago

Spain is in Western Europe

hakaaaaak 14y ago
Spiritually it may as well not be. They usually stand on their own and stay out of the news when it comes to politics of Western Europe as a whole, since they were kept out of the UN post WWII. The biggest tie to the rest of Western Europe recently is that of organized crime; the Garduña of old evolved into the Comorra of today, well known across Europe, especially in Italy, obviously.
diegocg 14y ago
Telefónica, the main spanish telco company, is one of the Firefox OS partners.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]