Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I'll start out by saying I was one of those n810 users who always ran latest Mer. I gave up when it became clear that the release of the n900 put a bullet in Mer's head. I really admire Stskeeps' abilities, and he's probably done more than anyone for the open-ness of Maemo (or Meego or whatever it is this week), but I have a really hard time taking anything he says about software at face value.

Stskeeps, I'll address a few of your statements:

Yeah, especially when you start out tracking it for NITs, then you decide it's easier to port that to the SmartQ than it is to implement a settings panel that didn't accidentally reboot the device. The goalpost was always moving, sure, but the users weren't moving it, and Nokia wasn't moving it. But why not, right? The SmartDevices guys sent you a toy! I know n810 owners who were more excited about Mer than anything Nokia's doing, but their only source of information was the subject lines of emails you generated from IRC.

Hardly. If you had just finished up Mer for the n8x0, you could have saved a lot of time working on the Community SSU, because nobody would have cared -- Mer would have stepped in its place. And the fact that Nokia is switching to Qt doesn't mean GTK is going to be removed from the device. And furthermore, even if they had removed GTK, it's pretty damn trivial to repackage it with QtCurve and ship the damn thing as a support library.



Well, congrats. The many, many people eagerly exploring each testing release of Mer and looking forward to any kind of stable release are really glad you've got a job. Now would you mind updating the damn wiki entry to explain that Mer is dead? Why does anyone even have to ask you to do that? That wiki is the forward face of the Mer project. I knew Mer was dying when nobody could even be bothered to post links to the 0.16testing[0-9] releases, but that wiki proclaims loudly that Mer is new and under active development. It isn't. Please adjust the wiki.

And now I'll respond to some of qgil's confusion:

I agree that Stskeeps is one of the most valuable members of the community, but I'd wager his defensive tone comes from dealing with the people who feel burned by the Mer project.

I remember IRC discussions sounding exactly like this re: Mer. MeeGo is open, and as such I support it, but FOSS projects have a tendency to suffer from horrible scope creep. 3d drivers were a great distraction, but since nobody knew what Fremantle even looked like, it can hardly be argued that Mer needed 3d to survive. Distractions like that are what honestly killed Mer and I wonder what plan you guys have in place to keep it from happening to MeeGo. I'm sure Intel will ensure there's none of this port-to-every-platform wheelspinning; that's not their style.

I want to make it clear that Stskeeps is awesome, and is doing a great job. I fully support him and I'm glad you're funding him. But some of us have asked him once before what we could do, we were told to test Mer and report bugs, and then we got youtube videos of Mer booting on a SmartQ 5 and exhibiting the exact bugs we reported the month before.

I know that Stskeeps' work started as a labor of love. I'm happy that he's now making a living doing what he loves. I know that he's good at it, and will continue to be an irreplaceable asset to the Maemo and MeeGo communities.

But the users matter too. In FOSS, the users matter more than ever, because if they get upset enough they'll fork or leave. The Mer project was a failure in the eyes of the users, because the devs got distracted with port-the-alpha-everywhere syndrome, and because the users' expectations were not managed very well. The PR1.2 thread in the Fremantle forum is a perfect example of what happens when you ignore expectation management.

Watch out for scope creep, guys, and keep an eye on the users. You'll be fine.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

And thank you for testing. I'll be answering honestly and directly. I do have a bit different view on hardware support in a project like this, but bear with me.

I do suffer from gadget lust, that is true. Now, admittedly, my speciality is in the lower parts of an OS, porting and in facilitation. I don't know Qt or GTK enough to code me a UI to get out of a paperbag. Now, people did contribute in this area, but I think either 1) I was too bad at facilitating people getting into these areas or 2) the contributors never really came or pulled their weight. It was maybe a bit of both. I have written about this in one of my blog posts about why reconstructing Maemo was a bad idea in hindsight when it came to doubling as a 'backport' for N8x0.

I wasn't supposed to code entire Mer entirely on my own. Did we as a community pull through? Yes, in many areas. Some, not. Did we learn things about the things
we dived into? A lot. So it goes.

Do I need to point out there has not yet been any indication of Hildon and Maemo GTK in a MeeGo (harmattan, meego) context? As well that any status bar plugins, control panels, etc are tied into the GTK architecture in such a way that we don't see Qt based status bar plugins in Fremantle? A lot of code thatwouldn't be reusable in a qt desktop context.


Will do - was thinking the same thing yesterday. It's not the least bit fun for me Mer has gone the way it did. However, I wasn't refering to my job, I was referring to the skills people learnt and now can engage in conversations with skill and experience and merit for their work within mobile linux.

Now, this is where our perspectives differ. I actually expect a shitload of porting of MeeGo to happen to a lot of different devices. If core platform and hardware support is seperate, each new device brings in more people working on the core platform from different device communities, companies, etc.

It's funny you're bringing up the SmartQ example, as it illustrates my point. it -is- the same system on both. But you're right, bugs weren't fixed - either due to my lack of skill or noone diving into the bug.

This I do agree with.

Thanks for your honest comments. Do you have a irc nick I can relate to?

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

May I counter that it might be haughty of you to presume that end users' experiences and opinions count for little to nothing in this conversation? What is the distmaster's point of existing if not to BE the distmaster of a dist (pardon my end-userness but I assumed, in this context about operating systems, we're talking about a distribution).

If he was platform focused, then which platform was he focusing on? I'm not sure I got the impression that he focused on any one in particular. Did you mean the 'maemo' platform or did you mean a particular piece of hardware platform?

Assuming the former, that appears to be all for nothing now--which also blows away your point about 'long-term'. Would have learned as much working with uLinux.

If you mean the latter, then all these different gadgets he was aiming for seem to negate your argument about being focused on the platform--and now with the N900 speak, I'm less convinced that the distmaster shares legacy hardware concerns.. while Nokia continues to pump out a newer kernel/software/fixes for their new stuff... where end users couldn't care less what's happening with the distmaster's work.

Clarify for me, if you would please, why I shouldn't feel exasperated and express it as an end user. Then tell me whether the intent was/is to churn code around to learn.. something (what was learned seems, to me, to be of dubious value in highsight) or whether the intent was/is to offer an alternative distribution that we, end users, can use and contribute to in whatever way we could. Near as I can tell, it never got to a point where anyone outside of kernel coding could contribute anything worth doing yet.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I'll be in Germany fairly soon, so without mobile internet - been answering from my N900 all this time ;) hence, I'll be absent for a number of hours, so don't treat my lack of replying as not wanting to discuss things ;)

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Never got that impression so far.

I would just like to know that, ultimately, there's a reason why I should bother to hold onto this thing they convinced me to buy on the promises of openness and open-source. I still remember old N800 ads claiming 'future-proof because it's based on open-source'. Tinkerer as I am, I don't dabble in coding to the kernel level but I can still manage to compile and run a CURRENT kernel on my old 486DX4/100MHz in the other room... yet I find it incredibly difficult to make my N800 run anything as current. The promises of Mer raised and then ruined all my hopes.

I digress. When you DO get to reading my criticisms, keep in mind that I'm a highly critical bastard (of others as well as myself) and that I don't compliment much. You deserve a large heaping of praise for letting people vent, point out flaws and taking it with incredible grace. I hope you understand that the person on the other end of the terminal is more annoyed with the way Nokia (and all guilty parties involved.. they know who they are) set these things up to fail than with anything you've done or failed to do. For lack of a better phrase: you asked for it.

Take your time and respond when you can but I await your responses with abated breath.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

First of all, let me state that I'm absolutely ecstatic about the things you have accomplished in the past 6 months, and I can't wait to see the results of the next 6. Well done, and thank you!

To keep this in perspective, most of your Mer work was done as a personal hobby before the distmaster position even existed. So the thread title is a bit misleading, but I get the purpose it serves.

The main problem Mer had IMHO was lack of critical developer mass. I was just as frustrated as everyone else by the slow progress, but let's be realistic here. Making an entire Linux distribution is a huge task and requires far too many skills than one person, or even a small team, can reasonably be expected to have. Despite that, you had the conviction to say "this needs doing", roll up your sleeves and get to work (probably getting pulled in all sorts of different directions that had little or no personal interest in the process) setting an example for the rest of us.

If Mer failed, then it was a failure of the community as a whole. Just from a causality point of view, not casting blame or anything. These things happen.

However even if Mer-the-distribution is now a dead end I don't see Mer-the-project as a failure. If you squint just a little bit you can see all its principles living on in Meego, and I think it's fair to say that it would be very different had Mer not existed to show a better way of doing things.

So, again, THANK YOU and keep up the good work :-)

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

The problem, which would be addressed by more focus on Mer^2 as a stop-gap until/if MeeGo is a viable day-to-day OS, is that it's now obvious that Mer could never have succeeded in delivering a day-to-day OS for most people.

The apps are the problem. You can see this on the Joggler with Mer 0.17 & OpenGL: you get a Hildon Desktop, you can install some apps, but if it's not ABI compatible with Maemo you're going to have a lot smaller pool of apps. Even if it did get large scale adoption, there're also API issues.

The first few iterations of MeeGo, and the core FLOSS apps it comes with, will give us an indication of whether MeeGo as a day-to-day OS for the N8x0 is viable.

Perhaps Mer^2 and using that as a place for further playing with the GL drivers will help with the MeeGo-on-N8x0 adaption layer. However, this is one that Stskeeps can best comment on - and whether he's getting/got enough assistance from the community on the N8x0 MeeGo h/w adaption layer.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Someone implied that some criticism has been less than fully informed. True: a general appeal for comments was made, and they are forthcoming. If only well informed criticism was wanted, private messages would have been sent to those who knew more about the actual conditions you worked under.

The point was made that the community wasn't very involved in the development of Mer and thus shares some responsibility for its failure.

Probably so, but I don't think that a good job of momentum-building was done. I remember personally expressing skepticism at whether it was necessary to stop everything and wait for the two drivers. There were other delays that seemed mysterious to me. Once it became clear how great Mer's potential was, there must have been greater and greater willingness to help out.

I think there must have been an inherent divergence between Nokia's focus and the interests of those who wanted to keep their tablets happy. I don't see why Nokia would cry when tablet owners were essentially smothered by those with other preoccupations about the N900 or MeeGo. The renaming of ITT was not just some isolated decison and neither was the foundering of Mer. They were all part of a reallignment of power in favor of the one who was paying the bills.

So the interests of this site were realligned and that made any cries for help you may have made, or requests for discussions of what parts of Mer to continue and what to abandon hard to hear over the N900 and MeeGo hubbub.

That was not your fault; maybe it was inevitable as soon as the true interests of those with internet tablets acquired second-class status.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

The tone is unfortunate. In my interactions with stskeeps, I have seen that he is a tremendous asset. I think he is lightning rod for dissatisfactions that mostly properly lie elsewhere.

Yes, I have pondered this. Mer did not need to be a finished product to influence direction of SW development. Whether in fact this was the case, I do not know.

But there you go moving the goalposts, again, I notice. There is a lot of dissatisfaction in the OS2008 community, and you speak past it. Which of the OS2008 components have been opened? And how will OS2008 community benefit from MeeGo? I don't see it. Will you point to MeeGo adaptation project for N8x0? It is unfinished and will be for quite some time - doubts abound.

I concur. Don't let the crosswinds of criticism deter you.

Thank you for funding Carsten. He is a valuable asset to our community. Please leverage your investment by helping him help the Maemo (not MeeGo) community.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Forgive me, but this is from one perspective entirely incorrect, and from another perspective slightly incorrect.

From the perspective of "I want my device to continue to run programs at all" you're entirely wrong. Half the time on my n810 I'm running a regular x11 app over ssh forwarding, and I haven't got many problems. I'd be perfectly happy running regular desktop applications on my tablet, if it came down to it. Mer was a great platform for that.

From the perspective of "I want my device to continue to run programs that are perfectly hildonized and integrated" then you're only slightly wrong ...and only because it's possible to fake it a la sugarization.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

So, for that time you don't need a new OS! ;-)

It was. So's Easy Debian. Doesn't the position Mer got to deliver that functionality for you? i.e. it's stopped at a perfect point.

Having played with LD_PRELOAD hacks to get HildonWindow used instead of GtkWindow, I'm aware of these things.

The approach taken by the page you link to isn't necessary on Maemo/Mer (it's basically run-standalone.sh). However, no-one's succeeded in auto-Hildonisation using LD_PRELOAD. Perhaps you'd like to run with it and deliver something workable?

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

A couple casual thoughts...

yes, it is about the apps. There are 500+ Maemo 4 apps. As much as people have investments in the N8x0 devices, aren't there as much if not more investments in the Maemo 4 software?

Can we afford to wait for a few iterations (6 month cycle) of MeeGo? I think not.

stskeeps can work on the n8x0 h/w adaption layer, but shouldn't someone also work on the "Maemo API adaption" layer?

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Have fun :-)

First thoughts are that you - or the person found - could investigate rebuilding, and repackaging, the diablo libhildon (and other libraries) so that they run on MeeGo, possibly alongside any libhildon that MeeGo may ship (or have available).

It might not even be too technical; largely packaging and minor Gtk tweaks/patches.

If you can put together a compelling argument, I'd be happy to have the council take it to Nokia. Although it'd be a hardsell to get them to sponsor someone for it IMHO. It's also predicated on the adaption layer actually getting a workable MeeGo base on the N8x0. If not, being able to run diablo apps on MeeGo's not going to be much use.

However, given MeeGo is a "first class distro" it will have apps written for it (especially given the new Qt SDKs), whereas Mer never got to the point where anyone really considered writing an app "for Mer". If you want to run diablo apps, run diablo.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I'm not very active, but a while ago I noticed that posts from Stskeeps were worth reading. Often I'll skim threads looking for posts or posters which seem more interesting. I've been really impressed by your contributions.

I've been vaguely following Mer, the community SSU, and the 3d drivers. I've been very pleased with the progress, slow as it's been at times. While it's been a bumpy road at times, it gives me ongoing hope for my N810.

Thank you!

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I have my doubts (pardon me for being naive): What are we reviewing here? Stskeeps performance as distmaster, or Stskeeps performance as Mer lead developer?
Mosts posts seem to be talking about both, but I think that the only job that might need reviewing is "distmastering" (because the other one is not paid one, do not misunderstand me ;P ).

From what I understand about the distmaster role -- he should be facilitating mer-like efforts, not developing them all by himself!

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

That's a great point Ima which often gets overlooked in analysis. If nothing else, Mer was a small but powerful demonstration of what the community *can* do vis-a-vis MeeGo. It means no excuses allowed for closed framework development.

Let's focus on the successes and lessons, and move forward. I trust that Stskeeps has learned from them and factored that into his approach going forward.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Why would it be haughty? You're clearly missing the thrust of the position if you believe end-users are frequently and directly affected in obvious ways by it.

It was the Mer platform, which, stemming from its origins as Maemo Reconstructed is designed to reinvent Maemo in a way that's sustainable in the long-term. Effectively, it's the blueprint that MeeGo ended up using (unwittingly or not, I don't know). On the practical scale, many patches and architecture changes to both Maemo and MeeGo came out of Mer's requirements.

So, yeah, the long-term definitely applies here. :)

Which comes from a variety of causes, most of them outside the control and, initially, the foresight of those involved in the project.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Thanks for responding. Notice that the project has merit regardless of whether stskeeps gets a workable MeeGo base on the N8x0, because it will be possible to run the 500+ Diablo apps on any MeeGo device.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Allow me to start with stskeeps has always been that one person that when they posted, I read each word with my full attention. Stuff about Mer gave me hope, I figured early that there would be some obstacles due to the nature of certain bits of the N810 being somewhat closed... and I showed patience.

I also have to admit to stopping posting here for a while mainly because I couldn't stand the rampaging (still ongoing) "You don't own a N900, why are you here!?" attitude(s) by a lot of folks that are quite damn near here. So I missed it when Mer stopped, Mer^2 started and now the possibly move for MeeGo on the N810.

I'd say that stskeeps you've always done a commendable job in regards to communication of things going on behind the scene - something I wish even Nokia would have learned from you.

I don't know all that you do, it's honestly way over my head. And I don't even mind admitting that. If anything though, I have one very simple request - please catch me up. What's happening for my N810? Do you mind catching up my simpleton mind since it seems like I've missed out on some very key announcements.

With that said... keep up the good work. Stick around. This community is more whole with you, than without. Through you, I feel rather good that at least somebody is tinkering with the base OS on the tablets. And the fact that I've seen you show patience with people that I would have lost my religion... that's a virtue that's kept me around and hopeful.

One day, I might end up using something other than OS2008 on my N810, and I feel like you're one of the few people that will make that happen.

You have my vote of confidence.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

fwiw Mer had it's % of inspiration and contribution to MeeGo. Stskeeps and lbt (two of the more dedicated Mer developers) were working in MeeGo stuff right after the launch, and Mer was probably the most concrete item in their "CVs" related to the tasks they were supposed to do.

If this work in MeeGo benefits Mer or the N8*0, that's up to them I guess. As seen in all free software communities, sometimes moving from hobbyist to pro brings more time and quality to your hobby projects, and sometimes does the opposite. I personally think that having a job related to your hobbies does help you enjoying your hobbies more (as opposed to work on something disconnected, or be looking for a job).

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

As much as you risk having your passion that was dedicated at your hobbies be transfered to your work. It is definitely a risk; as in most common cases, you don't own, or really control your work.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

So, I'm also distmaster for N900. However, the day I became distmaster, I haven't focused on any other hardware than 770, N8x0 and N900. There was the Maemo-on-OMAP project, which was more of assistance to a TI contact to make it easier for developers so they could develop for Maemo without getting a N900. Worthwhile cause to help get developers towards the platform?

I've also been playing with my Joggler lately, but that's been outside of work hours and a personal project.

I understand that you feel like that and why. However, we're here now. And I'm wondering how we should go forward - how would you like to see your N8x0 in 3 months?

I think kernel code was probably the least worked area in Mer.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

They actually advertised that? Wow.

At least with the kernel, there's talented people working on patches to update things. We actually stayed at old kernel in Mer as the newer kernels would loose features for the users, so updating the kernel wasn't a priority.. That's changing now.

There's a tiny bit of masochism in me and all the work I do, isn't there? :)

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

At least I hope with this thread to help inform why, how and where things were the way it is.

On the other hand, maemo.org community was traditionally that of application developers. I've said at some point that OS developers came to the community, had their patches ignored in bugtrackers, no management of contributions, left again - Mer helped organise these contributions better.

I've myself said that we needed to get the community prepared for the influx of a lot of interested users, contributors, etc. It wasn't handled too well in my opinion and it scared away people who made out the backbone of the community from this place. The realignment of power thing I really don't have words for commenting on, sorry.

It's a sad fact, but they are second-class hardware - first-class hardware is something like the N900. Now, what we do with them is what matters..

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Just consider the beatings Andre (our bugmaster) is getting then. Someone really ought to thank him more and send good wine and flowers for putting up with all the lightning. :P

In this particular case I'll note something of myself personal: If I only have to look in the past and reuse skills and not acquire new skills, knowledge, experience by experimental projects, my motivation drops immensely. In this case, MeeGo work is a source of 'futuristic' work which I can then help bring back to N8x0s. I don't want to be left behind if/when the maemo.org rapture comes around and everyone moved on to MeeGo.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Another good argument for MeeGo is the fact that well, it is built for ARMv5, ARMv7 with an indication of it staying around.. and maybe, let's say that the default MeeGo ARM SDK (Qt creator, MADDE, etc) would be targetting a low ARM version by default or building both..

Doesn't this mean that many new apps for MeeGo (qt) will be available on MeeGo N8x0 too? How many apps do you think MeeGo will attract? :)

But you're right regarding Maemo API adaptation. Can we even get hildon and maemo gtk to play nice in MeeGo? The second problem is packaging, all the Maemo4/5 apps would have to be repackaged. Can we return to this topic in MeeGo for N8x0 because it is something I worry about as well?

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I'll say same as I said to danramos - how do you want to see your N8x0 in three months?

I can continue blogging about N8x0 stuff on mer-project.blogspot.com I guess.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Right, so. How do we turn the sour lemons into lemonade?

We're in a bad situation but not as bad as when Fremantle got announced not to be ported to N8x0. How can we make things better?

Imagine me having 10 hours a week just for N8x0 things. What do you want me to do in those hours?

In addition to that: Given the choice, how would you like to see your N8x0 in 3,6,9,12 months, with emphasis on that it should not be a waste of time for those involved to make it get there, short and long term.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Honestly? Since you asked, I'll give you my "to the Moon" expectation first, followed by my rather realistic expectation...

I would love to have a refreshed UI, sans 3D transitions (I don't need them) that allows for existing N900 apps that mostly came from the Diablo days (read: RTComm, Xournal, DialCentral, Tear, Flash Player, Mauku 2, Skype, Evince, MPlayer, HomeTools) that is trimmed down a bit services-wise so it will be a bit leaner and "fit" on the N810 better and run nicer. Webkit based browser as the default, Mail that's installable after the fact (I don't use it, I use webmail mostly first and I dislike IMAP on the N810). That's my mile high wishlist...

To be honest, I'd just love a refreshed UI, a streamlined install from the kernel up, some more fixes that the Community SSU might not be able to provide, (easier) Yahoo via RTComm, better RTComm integration (sorta like N900)... and a real removal of the Mail app. I'm seriously down for gutting the OS a bit to almost barebones levels and build up instead.

I guess I'd like to feel up-to-date somewhat more than "Fixed in Fremantle" or "WONTFIX" has made me feel for a while.

Awesome. I know your time is limited, thanks for taking the time to respond to us here. It's not about what all you can you do by yourself. As a community, whatever little bits we can do to help you, let us know.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Worth its own thread? Or should we just add on to this?

For myself, I don't know about three months, but long-term, in a nutshell, I would ideally want one of the following:

• Everything I do in Diablo today (web, RSS, podcast/audio, GPS, word processor, spreadsheet) in an OS with more of a future & Qt 4.6. - OR -
• Diablo dual-booting to an OS with more of a future (ideally with Qt 4.6) - OR -
• Diablo cloned to an SD card with Qt 4.6

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

This is what I would like to see.

1. Assist LMA and others and get as many bugfixes and enhancements which can be squeezed into the community SSU. It may even be beneficial to split into two - fixes and enhancements. I would also suggest that if resources permit it may be advantagous to push smaller SSUs out as patches are available, rather than wait until the entire shopping list is complete - This will give a much needed feeling of progress and positiveness to the whole thing.

2. Work with Nokia and whoever to build a "Maemo4.5", with anything backported possible including (if possible) as these seem to be the things which do not rely on the extra hardware of the N900:
Panorama desktop
media player (including A2DP, and AVRCP if possible)
photos (specifically browsing, simple editing, and sharing)
calendar

These can remain as binary blobs if necessary, I think for the most part most N8x0 owners would like to see something rather than be hung up on 100% open and GPL etc.

If nothing else at the end of this I would like to see an updated diablo image with the community SSU slipstreamed, so that when a reflash was carried out all the upto date stuff was already in.

I hope some of this is
a) achieveable
b) realistic

Good luck and thanks for all the efforts both so far and in the future.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

thank you very much for your work and your posts, Stskeeps.
"how would you like to see your N8x0 in 3 months?"
this is not necessarily directed at you, but since you are kind enough to ask -
i'd love to see the buggy nokia os2008 software (mediaplayer, email, etc.) finally fixed.
i understand why nokia might have wanted to see the tablet community dispersed as soon as possible, (and handing out n900s to key people could cynically be interpreted as a slick move to that effect), but regardless of how few of us are still here, i do think they still owe us fixing those bugs in some form.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Interesting. OK, back to the next three months. Stskeeps, I think my priorities would be these:

1. Do what needs to be done to keep the door open to "MeeGo on the N8x0".
2. Squeeze everything out of Diablo that can be squeezed. I know this isn't blue sky & exciting, but I think it could be highly appreciated by the community. And you might even get a bang out of having deliverables for a change. (Supposed to be a joke. ;) )
3. Work on "MeeGo on the N8x0". (I mean, how much can you do before the next code drop anyway?)

The only thing that worries me about #2 is that it seems like lma is doing all the he thinks is doable without Nokia's cooperation. I think someone already tried to go farther (SD69 maybe?) and was told he needed to make "business cases" for his requests. The implication was that Nokia's standard for said business cases was insurmountably high (and that NIT owners getting deeply pissed and buying Androids wasn't a sufficient case :) ).

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Me too. Doing the same old stuff gets very old for me.

I can agree with this too. I'm just not able to spend much time around MeeGo / Maemo these days for exactly this reason.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

I read the title of this thread and thought, my momma told me to stay away from nuclear accidents. Yet here I am on a weird sleep schedule and I thought I'd pop in and do a bit of rubber necking. Not as bad as I thought; just a small fender bender.

All I can conclude is that, stskeeps, you are one crazy mother f*cker. I know you were looking for feedback, but I would rather just leave words of encouragement and thanks. You're obviously a huge asset and I hope that MeeGo is as successful as I know you want it to be.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Digressing a bit, but for me the sad fact is that to this date there is no direct replacement for the N8x0s. If there was I would have pre-ordered it at full retail price the day it was announced (like the previous 3), while the N900 just didn't interest me even with the DDP discount.

It's not quite as simple as a straightforward CPU/RAM comparison. The N900/Fremantle combination is a whole different class of device to its predecessors, with quite significant differences in things like screen size, battery life, input methods, UI etc (and don't even get me started on dropped software features). Some people might prefer it, and that's fine (hey, other than having a Y chromosome I'm not even in the target group), but for a lot of uses the N8x0s are simply better and the N900 is not a valid upgrade path.

It's not just a matter of hanging on to old hardware either. I'm still using both of mine regularly (even when I had the N900 loan device), while I haven't even booted my 770 since (let me quickly grep my DHCP logs) August 2008.

Hopefully MeeGo will change things by bringing more interesting devices to the market, but for now an N8x0 is the best I can get my hands on :-)

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

In a dream world I would like:

• proper (kernel-independent) dual-boot. KEXEC might do it, or perhaps a more capable bootloader chained off NOLO
  
• a way to generate updated initfs images. Maybe some automatic machinery to which we can upload a tarball of eg updated kernel modules, bootmenu, extra binaries etc and then it overlays it on top of the proprietary stuff, does some size sanity checks and spits out an initfs-flasher deb in some appropriate repository.

In the longer term, IMHO the most imporant development would be getting as much of the hardware as possible supported in mainstream kernels.

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

For some reason I read dstmaster as "disaster" :)

Re: Half-year review of Stskeeps's work as distmaster
 

Agreed on both points.

As an example, the contents of the post on the port to the OMAP2 http://omappedia.org/wiki/Maemo_Getting_Started is good, with interesting work behind it. It would be significantly improved (for me at least) with a link at the front indicatiing which devices are/will ship with this processor.

To make the point more general, there are a lot of people who dip in and out of this technical world, and need a few more signposts along the way...