Meego and user/root control

[mattbutsko]

hey quick question, will Meego still have the user control that Maemo has? it seems like devs are gonna wanna remove stuff like that to make Meego more "consumer friendly".

will we still have sudo gainroot, access to the root fs, xterminal, etc etc? i'd searcg but i'm away from my laptop and its rather difficult on the device i'm on.

[superhero]

hmmmh

I wondered what these maemo users would like to have in meego that was in the previous maemo os's

[wmarone]

All of that is up to the vendor of the device.

[Descalzo]

This is a good question for me, too. One of my favorite things about the N900, and one of the ones I didn't even think about when I got it, was that it comes pre-rooted. Now I got an iPad for work, and it drives me nuts every day that I don't have root access. Heck, NOBODY has root access to the iPad without a jailbreak, not even the developers! My next smartphone is going to have root access and a community like this.

[luckylefty]

based on videos i seen on meego i really dont like the ui. i like how maemo allows u to have multiply background for different homescreen. i prefer scolling the home screen better than hitting menu for my apps since i setup each screen for each task such as web account shortcuts on one screen and stock market account on another.maemo os look better. the only thing i would like added to the n900 is portrait keyboard and multi touch screen other than that this device is perfect.and since matbutsko metion it are we still goin to have x terminal never notice anyone going into it in any of the videos. all video are the same and only show one homescreen then u tap the so called menu to select your apps it reminds me of android. and why dont they make the ui look like the meego tablet demo on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqeeQd-YNL0 . i think if the ui look like this on the n9, nokia will kill android, iphone and wm7 hands down. btw do you really like windows mobile new os? it looks cluttered to me, just my opinion.

[mattbutsko]

just looking at the phone ui, it looks more like a phone and less like a linux computer, while the n900 is the other way around. i just hope nokia doesnt forget about the power users and stops intel if they wanna consumerify meamo with meego, thats probably what they'd do.

nokia should have just kept maemo. i love maemo, only use my laptop half as much as i use to. i saw a video preview of the meego contacts application, it looks IDENTICAL to my old and sold iPod Touch's conatcts app.

many typoes and grammar errors, on my beloved n900 now and dont feel like typing properly!

[richie]

There was talk of the terminal being accessed by a shortcut in Maemo 6 aka Meego Harmattan. See thread here,

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=433121#post433121

X-Term wouldn't mean root access though, this would depend if running in open or closed mode.

[abubakar]

this is all very scary ..

[wmarone]

this is all very scary ..
No, you simply need to pay attention.

What you should be worried about are the multitudes of vendors who make no room for, nor even discuss, giving the user even an option to gain root access.

[*Sonic*]

Isnt Meego being developed by the community? or is it just the support once it has been finalised

I thought the N900 wasnt going to be supported by Nokia in any kind of official capacity, therefore wouldnt it be down to the developers to allow root access ?

[wmarone]

Isnt Meego being developed by the community? or is it just the support once it has been finalised
Yes. The community consists of Intel, a Nokia-funded team, and various and sundry individuals.

I thought the N900 wasnt going to be supported by Nokia in any kind of official capacity, therefore wouldnt it be down to the developers to allow root access ?
Two unrelated things. A MeeGo device granting the user root access is something decided by the vendor when they port it to their platform. Vanilla MeeGo will always give you root access.

[Mentalist Traceur]

Which means that it's all up to the sheep, and ideally the non-sheep who AREN'T in favor of being locked out of their devices, to make the carriers and vendors bend over and give you your root access, whether they like it or not.

On a slightly more serious note, is there a way we can make not having root access grounds for a class action lawsuit?

- Edit -

Someone with good legal know-how is welcome to correct me, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure the above wasn't DIRECTLY possible - because there's nothing that the business is doing against American (I can't vouch for others - though you may dig around and find this out) laws on the matter - they are selling a product that they have the legal permission to make unrootable, and unless they explicitly say it WILL be rootable, you won't be able to challenge them on it.

Now, what the American system really needs for a one-hit kill against carriers/vendors preventing rooting is for someone to establish a legal ruling that goes so far as to say that it's an owner's fundamental right to have root/admin access to their devices if they so choose.

Barring someone mobilizing the various governmental institutions against the lobbying power of the network carriers and handset manufacturers, the best alternative would be to blatantly shower every phone maker and service provider with demands for the ability to gain root access (if it requires some effort to do so, that would probably be fine for a compromise for most power users, I'm sure), through the official customer support channels.

Beyond that, actively buying unlocked and unbranded phones (to demonstrate to the carriers that they can suck it), and ones from manufacturers that put the fewest stumbling blocks in place on their MeeGo devices (and being vocal about not liking the locked-ness of the other ones - to the makers you're not buying from, not everywhere else), would be the best long-term gradual strategy - but enough people have to realize that their carriers and handset manufacturers do not have a right to analy-rape them, and then realize that in the long term it's worth it to push for that when possible.