barzam | # 121 | 2010-07-10, 11:15 | Report

Actually I don't see much people in here complaining about Android being closed. What ticks me off about Android is that Google themselves are in charge of the direction it's taking whereas Meego hopefully will turn about to be a true community effort. Not saying Google necessarily is taking it in a bad direction, on the contrary I think they've done a superb job finally bringing a Linux distro to the masses without people even noticing that it's Linux.

ysss | # 122 | 2010-07-10, 11:43 | Report

That's exactly what's needed to get these things off the ground. Look at how slow the ones with 'design by committee' mindsets (um, debian for example). They're idealist, complete, can do no wrong.. But they don't do no 'right' within reasonable timeframe either (to be 'competitive').

Nathraiben | # 123 | 2010-07-10, 11:53 | Report

But that's where Ubuntu kicks in (and, while of course not perfect, I'd call that one pretty competitive). And I dare say MeeGo is more comparable to Ubuntu (open source, but not "die hard" so, and also backed up by a company) than Debian itself.

barzam | # 124 | 2010-07-10, 11:55 | Report

The Debian project has a up-to date testing version, only the stable releases get delayed due to them wanting a stable release. I don't see how this is a bad thing.

In any way, now that Android is finally taken off the ground with the 2.2 release Google ought to make it an open project, which we all will not happen.

acou | # 125 | 2010-07-10, 12:03 | Report

What ticks me off about Android is that scifi-geeks and people interested in robotics now have a hard time finding valuable information about their subjects.
But that's Googol. Stealing and monetizing commons.

Crashdamage | # 126 | 2010-07-10, 12:07 | Report

Agreed.

Disagree. Android is really not Linux, and certainly not a Linux distro. It's only a much-modified linux kernel supporting a Davlik VM.

It has helped some to increase public awareness that there's a thing called Linux. But not much, since most Android users still don't know Linux is in there at all. Betcha if you asked 10 Android users what Linux is at least 9 would have no clue.

If MeeGo succeeds, it will change that because it really is Linux, as in a real Linux distro.

ysss | # 127 | 2010-07-10, 12:08 | Report

Ubuntu is a great example for that. But i'm still skeptical that Nokia can change themselves enough to do us 'right' this time around. Onky time will tell....

@barzam: there's testing and experimental (sid), but you'll risk to get tangled up in all sort of dependency hell and limbo mix and matching dists... Which is why i think the semi sandboxed design is still more suitable for handhelds....

barzam | # 128 | 2010-07-10, 12:13 | Report

I define Linux as something which is running the Linux kernel. What's your definition as you seem to use another one? I personally use a heavily modified Linux kernel in my netbook (stripped of loads of modules), and I still think it's a Linux kernel.

But I see what you mean: Maemo, and I guess Meego, really feel like a normal distro (repositories, terminal, googling for help to fix weird problems, GPL applications) whereas Android must be very different.

Nathraiben | # 129 | 2010-07-10, 12:16 | Report

Hehe, I would say there's still Intel - but after the GMA500 fiasco I'd rather go with Nokia...

Maybe I'm a bit dewy-eyed, but I'm still pretty optimistic when it comes to MeeGo. Other than the cherry bomb, Nokia shows signs of finally steering into the right direction (they are finally putting more focus on 3rd party implementations instead of keeping everything to themselves just to drop it half a year later), and I have high hopes for the Symbian-Qt-MeeGo combination.

msa | # 130 | 2010-07-10, 12:22 | Report

openness isnt always a plus. it sure isnt a minus, but what are the advantages that we as the maemo-community in general (and the n900-community specifically) have?
a freakin lot of half-baked hobby-apps that dont work. now i dont want to disrespect the free time and effort all the developers put in their apps, but to me as the consumer, unfinished apps arent helpful to me..

and now take a look at the android-apps. a lot of them are much more polished and professional. a friend of mine (owning a htc magic) once complained to me that he is getting updates to his apps every day.
i would LOVE when i would get an update once a week or month.
opensource sure is a nice thing, but it doesnt make maemo much better than not-so-open OS'es like android.
i guess there are much more private free developers on android as there are with maemo. there has to be a reason for that.

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Last edited by msa; 2010-07-10 at 12:25.