7 ms·

It's a shame that Firefox OS is still pretty much unusable.

by orkoden 12y ago

KingMob 12y ago
But it's also a shame that Google's thoroughly undermined the open source Linux underpinnings of Android, by making less and less of it available once Android reached a decent market share. There's still a need for an open phone platform.
- ZeroGravitas 12y ago
  Can you substantiate this claim with numbers e.g. the number of lines of open source code in Android gradually decreasing, the percentage of lines of open source code in Android gradually decreasing, or similar?
  - TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
    Well, every now and then Google drops support for a core Android open-source app in favour of Google's own "Google Play" version.
  - e15ctr0n 12y ago
    This article on ArsTechnica covers in great detail the issue of "openness" in Android: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-...
    - ZeroGravitas 12y ago
      Yes, an article with "Controlling open source by any means necessary" in the very title (subtitle "Android is open—except for all the good parts.") sounds like a very detailed, factual analysis of the situation. I asked my question because I believed that the original poster had been misled by that very article which has had it's already overstretched claims amplified in repitition.
      - e15ctr0n 12y ago
        You're welcome to post your own analysis of the situation, supported by verifiable facts.
- drdaeman 12y ago
  I somehow fear Firefox Accounts (and the whole relatively recent Mozilla cloud things) are tiny sway (not even a step, but) towards yet another vendor-centric approach to mobiles. This is, obviously, much better than Google, but still a tiny bit worrying...
  - jonchang 12y ago
    "Sign in with your Firefox Account" and its predecessor Firefox Sync were both designed with decentralization in mind. Unlike other services, you can set up your own sync server and take the Mozilla-run servers out of the equation entirely. https://github.com/mozilla-services/syncserver https://github.com/mozilla-services/syncserver
    - drdaeman 12y ago
      I know that and I run my own sync-1.1 server instance. Now they force me to use more of their unique software (I'll have to run fxa-auth and fxa-content too, and edit some obscure variables in about:config) or I won't be able to sync new devices. The fear is, eventually, they may introduce more, and I'll have no choice but to give up and rely on their servers. As contradicting example, my Keepass database sync just fine via a WebDAV - a well-established open standard, that has multiple uses and implementations, detached from authentication framework (one can use standard HTTP auth, or HTTPS certificate auth or any custom solution if they fancy so). And, obviously, if I wouldn't like to host my things myself, I can find WebDAV storage provider any day.
      - Yoric 12y ago
        > I know that and I run my own sync-1.1 server instance. Now they force me to use more of their unique software (I'll have to run fxa-auth and fxa-content too, and edit some obscure variables in about:config) or I won't be able to sync new devices. The fear is, eventually, they may introduce more, and I'll have no choice but to give up and rely on their servers. Desktop-side, we are trying to make things easier. If you wish to help, you'll be quite welcome.
      - 12y ago
- teacup50 12y ago
  What we really need is an open, standard hardware platform, not a browser based mobile OS that creates a closed consumer platform anyway. With browser OSs, the vendor can target the native platform, and app developers are stuck with second-string HTML+JS.

It's a shame that Firefox OS is still pretty much unusable.

by orkoden 12y ago

It's a shame that Firefox OS is still pretty much unusable.

But it's also a shame that Google's thoroughly undermined the open source Linux underpinnings of Android, by making less and less of it available once Android reached a decent market share. There's still a need for an open phone platform.

ZeroGravitas 12y ago
Can you substantiate this claim with numbers e.g. the number of lines of open source code in Android gradually decreasing, the percentage of lines of open source code in Android gradually decreasing, or similar?
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
  Well, every now and then Google drops support for a core Android open-source app in favour of Google's own "Google Play" version.
- e15ctr0n 12y ago
  This article on ArsTechnica covers in great detail the issue of "openness" in Android: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-...
  - ZeroGravitas 12y ago
    Yes, an article with "Controlling open source by any means necessary" in the very title (subtitle "Android is open—except for all the good parts.") sounds like a very detailed, factual analysis of the situation. I asked my question because I believed that the original poster had been misled by that very article which has had it's already overstretched claims amplified in repitition.
    - e15ctr0n 12y ago
      You're welcome to post your own analysis of the situation, supported by verifiable facts.
drdaeman 12y ago
I somehow fear Firefox Accounts (and the whole relatively recent Mozilla cloud things) are tiny sway (not even a step, but) towards yet another vendor-centric approach to mobiles. This is, obviously, much better than Google, but still a tiny bit worrying...
- jonchang 12y ago
  "Sign in with your Firefox Account" and its predecessor Firefox Sync were both designed with decentralization in mind. Unlike other services, you can set up your own sync server and take the Mozilla-run servers out of the equation entirely. https://github.com/mozilla-services/syncserver https://github.com/mozilla-services/syncserver
  - drdaeman 12y ago
    I know that and I run my own sync-1.1 server instance. Now they force me to use more of their unique software (I'll have to run fxa-auth and fxa-content too, and edit some obscure variables in about:config) or I won't be able to sync new devices. The fear is, eventually, they may introduce more, and I'll have no choice but to give up and rely on their servers. As contradicting example, my Keepass database sync just fine via a WebDAV - a well-established open standard, that has multiple uses and implementations, detached from authentication framework (one can use standard HTTP auth, or HTTPS certificate auth or any custom solution if they fancy so). And, obviously, if I wouldn't like to host my things myself, I can find WebDAV storage provider any day.
    - Yoric 12y ago
      > I know that and I run my own sync-1.1 server instance. Now they force me to use more of their unique software (I'll have to run fxa-auth and fxa-content too, and edit some obscure variables in about:config) or I won't be able to sync new devices. The fear is, eventually, they may introduce more, and I'll have no choice but to give up and rely on their servers. Desktop-side, we are trying to make things easier. If you wish to help, you'll be quite welcome.
    - 12y ago
teacup50 12y ago
What we really need is an open, standard hardware platform, not a browser based mobile OS that creates a closed consumer platform anyway. With browser OSs, the vendor can target the native platform, and app developers are stuck with second-string HTML+JS.