Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

It is a lot of speculation, but it would explain how Nokia intends to bring Qt to low-end devices: using linux.
Qt for Symbian still has a lot of rough edges, and judging from that experience a lot of people (including myself), don't believe Nokia would be able to bring Qt to series 40 or any other new OS in a reasonable amount of time, in a good working state.
But if they intend to use a linux distribution as a base, that would be a totally different situation. Or nokia intends to use a similar strategy as in the N900, a device that is effectively an internet tablet + Series 40 phone glued together. All interesting speculation, let us wait and see.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

I doubt very much though that any linux based distro will run as efficient as Symbian. AFAIK even a dumbed down one like Android suck more juice than Symbian and Harmattan even more. Sure native code all the way through is going to help but still I think Symbian will be more efficient.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

I guess the message being conveyed is that Linux is only suitable for low-end devices (and perhaps only as a glorified boot loader for Qt at that) and if you want something better you should get Windows.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

Yes. Fvck Tizen. I'm with Nokia on this one. Come on! One last push, we can do it this time! :D

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

OT: Is that Bill Murray in your avatar pic? :D

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

What do you mean by efficient? If you are referring to battery life i can't agree with you.
The Linux kernel is modular, that is why most embedded systems(where efficiency is VERY important) use it.
I would also like to know on which grounds you are basing the inefficiency of Harmattan, unless you own an N9, i don't understand how you arrived to that conclusion.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

It's Jack Lemmon. The picture is from the opening scene of Glengarry Glen Ross.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

This is not based on scientific testing, but I will say that the battery life of my N950 seems much worse than that of my N8. The N950 does however have a smaller battery than the N9 (1320mAh vs 1450mAh).

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

Compare battery life with Symbian and Android and you'll se that Symbian is the clear winner. And no I don't got a N9 (got a N950 though) but as Harmattan is more or less a stock debian based distro it sucks more juice than Symbian. All those servers, (i.e dbus, pulse-audio, xorg-server) suck power so yes I know that Harmattan suck more power than Symbian.

Re: Meltemi - Lightweight Linux based os from Nokia
 

May not be as efficient, but development time is currently a much bigger issue. One thing is clear that Nokia wasn't able to release competitive products based on Symbian on time in the past.
Despite all the delays Nokia faced with MeeGo, other companies have proven that you can release competitive linux based devices in a timely manner, even if you are a small business. (routers, phones, ebook readers, gadgets etc.)

Now that people want more and more from their featurephones, linux could be a good choice on the low-end, without the need to develop an app ecosystem.

Calling Android "dumbed down linux" is a gross simplification of the situation. Also if the applications on Harmattan are correctly optimized, there is no need that Harmattan would require "more juice" than Android or vice versa. You are correct that code that is "closer to the metal", can be more efficient when looking at CPU performance, and thus battery life. But in reality in most situations, the difference is small, and in current Android versions you can also use native code when it does matter.