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If I understand it correctly, Firefox OS is different in how it is not bound to one particular corporation. Mozilla's objective here is "build mobile OS" and no
by glogla 13y ago
If I understand it correctly, Firefox OS is different in how it is not bound to one particular corporation. Mozilla's objective here is "build mobile OS" and not "sell more devices" like Apple or "get info on people so we can sell advertising" like Google.
This makes me wonder about privacy and Firefox OS. Does it require arbitrary account with credit card paired like iOS or Windows Phone? Does it require account to get most of the functionality like Android? Does it require you to agree that Google will get your location data for network location service to function like Android? Does it not allow you to use it without sending (paid) sms to Nokia with your location, like new Nokia phones?
If it doesn't do any of those things, it is different.
- pjmlp 13y agoIt also needs to sell, being different is not enough. If the only selling point is HTML5 based apps, other OSs also have browsers.
- glogla 13y agoDepends on the target market. For me, not having any of the above mentioned "features" is a selling point for me. Do other people care? Possibly no, but that doesn't concern me. also, Firefox OS devices have potential to be cheaper than android devices, because there's no extortion from Microsoft, and may be consistent, unlike Android with many terrible manufacturer-made OS modifications and version fragmentation. Even now, android 2.3 devices are sold.
- pjmlp 13y agoFor me a device without native apps is a no go. I already have a browser and for the looks of it, FirefoxOS still needs some performance tuning to reach the level of throw away Android and Windows phones.
- Yoric 13y agoIt doesn't require any of these things. I have been using mine for ~6 months without a credit card. I have downloaded a number of free applications and the only times I had to log in was when I decided to rate them. I have not tested non-free applications, but the documentation seems to indicate that you have the choice between PayPal or some operator-provided billing mechanism. I don't know the details, though. You do not have a system-wide identity. The Marketplace supports authentication through Mozilla Persona/BrowserID, which is quite different from other single sign-on authentication schemes, insofar as it is anonymous, almost zero-knowledge, open-source and decentralized (admittedly, I don't know of any Persona provider other than Mozilla, but anyone with a http server can become a Persona provider).
- freehunter 13y agoWindows Phone does not require an account paired with a credit card.
- michael_h 13y agoNeither does iOS, for that matter.
- Yoric 13y agoIt doesn't? All recent MacBooks I have seen insist rather hard to be paired with an account and a credit card number. I have never done the initial setup of an iOS device, but I would have assumed that it was the same or worse.
- octotoad 13y agoNo, it definitely doesn't. iPhone 5 + iOS 6: doesn't know a thing about my credit card, and never will.
- Yoric 13y agoInteresting. Can you access any form of store without a credit card and without giving away your identity to Apple? And, just as importantly, can joe/jane user do it?
- the_mitsuhiko 13y ago> And, just as importantly, can joe/jane user do it? Irrelevant as those users will not care and just punch in their credit card if asked.
- Yoric 13y agoThat's what I meant by my question: is there any reasonable manner in which joe/jane user could decide to not punch in their credit card and still manage to setup the device?