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.