So this step is Nokia's learning curve on how to successfully bring a mameo device to the 'consumer'. And it's the Maemo community's learning curve on how to relate to Real Consumers. Because if we don't learn in time for maemo 6 it won't matter how great the software and hardware are, it'll flop. And if it flops, nokia will put it down to experience and move on.
The problem is your asking developers and people here to be helpful and supportive. Which is fine and all but the supportiveness quickly dries up when the consumer is unwilling to learn or help out (by submitting bug reports or explaining in depth why they were doing when the problem occured). Hence why Texrat and you guys are doing the Maemo Greeters program. Ideally when helping the newbies you will guide them to not just post
"whine whine, fix it now!" and instead turn that into something constructive where there's still whining but at least something that at least can lead to fixing the problem instead of people just ignoring the whining.
The difference in say a commercial venture to say this community is that a commercial venture gets paid. You want good customer service because your livelihood depends on it. While in this community most of us are putting in our own free time. It's like if you were volunteering and the person you were helping spit at you and insulted you. All we're going say is "**** off" and ignore you in that case.
I am buying this device knowing it's current limitations and abilities, but I'm also a "geek" so a lot of these issues don't concern me at the moment. One thing that does disconcert me though is the possibility that some of these basic usability issues, such as e-mail search, won't be fixed until Maemo 6, and it seems most likely that means a new device from Nokia.
The N900 being in the spotlight such as it is may not have been Nokia's plan until Maemo 6, but as it is, if they don't fix some of these issues which will put off the casual user, it may seriously hinder the reputation and sales of their next Maemo device, regardless of their intentions.
Here's hoping it all works out in Nokia's favor in the end, this seems to have the potential to be a game changer in the mobile world.
You know, I always though the OS community was fired by altruism, by a willingness to work for free to create something for everyone.
I'd have said it's more a willingness to work together as a community to create something for the community. Anyone's welcome to join the community, but if they choose not to, then they're not going to feel the full benefits.
Originally Posted by
This 'pull up the ladder, Jack' approach seems to the exact opposite.
There's no ladder being pulled up here; people are still free to come join the community if they want to be part of it, but it's not fair or reasonable to expect the community to bend over backwards to satisfy people that aren't prepared to be a part of it. Diving straight in with:
Originally Posted by
[get] rid of the BS elitist attitude. That would be step one.
is hardly the attitude of someone who wishes to be a contributing part of this community, or who is prepared to acknowledge that 'step one' happened quite a long time ago, and it, and the steps that followed it, have resulted in the creation of an entire OS that he's been freely given, as a gift.
There are loads of ways to join up and help out - writing code is obvious, but writing documentation, testing and filing bugs, and things like the Maemo Greeters effort are all valuable contributions. Calling the community's culture 'elitist BS' and demanding it change - not so much.
The GPS will work without the data plan. The data plan just helps with AGPS (assisted GPS) which helps get a lock faster.
The problem is you won't be able to use GPS software without an internet connection unless you download the maps before hand (e.g. if you were using Ovi Maps for example).
Take the concerns or misconceptions mentioned here and then amplify by a thousand. Nokia did underestimate the interest of the N900. Just imagine if Nokia had the foresight and actually marketed better and added the following phone features without removing any of the current good stuff:
1. Home call and end buttons (plenty of room on the front of device)
2. Phone centric profile option (key word is option)
3. MMS
The N900 would dominate, make geeks happy and smartphoners. Also reduce the concerns and complaint to a fraction of what they will probably be.
added
Whenever most of us get them of course.... whenever that is.
I'd have said it's more a willingness to work together as a community to create something for the community. Anyone's welcome to join the community, but if they choose not to, then they're not going to fell the full benefits.
There's no ladder being pulled up here; people are still free to come join the community if they want to be part of it, but it's not fair or reasonable to expect the community to bend over backwards to satisfy people that aren't prepared to be a part of it. Diving straight in with:is hardly the attitude of someone who wishes to be a contributing part of this community, or who is prepared to acknowledge that 'step one' happened quite a long time ago, and it, and the steps that followed it, have resulted in the creation of an entire OS that he's been freely given, as a gift.
There are loads of ways to join up and help out - writing code is obvious, but writing documentation, testing and filing bugs, and things like the Maemo Greeters effort are all valuable contributions. Calling the community's culture 'elitist BS' and demanding it change - not so much.
I feel like I'm a part of the larger open source community. I went from being an MS fanboy (part of a 100% Microsoft shop) to now getting all my important computing and communication work done using open source solutions. I no longer own a computer running Microsoft software.
But as a relative newcomer to Linux (and as someone who is not a developer at present), I am somewhat sensitive to the issues of other newcomers. I don't really like to see a community member react defensively when a newcomer doesn't immediately grok the value of open source and the community. In my own case, it took me a while to fully appreciate what this is all about. And if people over at the Ubuntu forums had not bent over backwards to be kind to me (kinder than I probably deserved), I would not have survived my transition from closed source to open source.
That's why I think the Maemo greeters program is such a good idea. Developers should not necessarily be expected to patiently hold the hands of noobs. So greeters ("technology evangelists") play a role that has critical value.
Not everyone who uses open source wants to see it dominate the market share, but I think everyone would agree that greater acceptance and adoption of open source benefits all of us in terms of hardware support, influx of new developers, etc.
Just now I received a call. When I looked at the phone it was a blank screen. It glitched and it took about 5 seconds to show the actual answer button. Do you think people want to deal with this kind of thing?
