Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

We're all frustrated by the long-standing Maemo pattern of Nokia building an OS for one device and dropping support later. This is thoroughly covered in other threads. :)

THIS thread is looking ahead to MeeGo. Will things get better going forward? Here's my hack analysis -- what are your thoughts?

Reasons for hope:
* Qt 4.6 hopefully means the new apps will keep on coming for a long time.
* A shared OS base hopefully means that bug fixes & enhancements to shared components will keep on coming for a long time.
* Openness & shared OS base will make it easier for community UXs.

Reasons for skepticism:
* The UX component might still be device-specific & thus subject to ROS.
* The fact that Harmattan is (IIUC) still using deb may mean that it's less compatible with other MeeGo "instances" and less likely to benefit. That makes me wonder if people worried about ROS should consider skipping Harmattan?
* Thwarted by closed hardware drivers??

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

Don't forget the different arm families those new projects will be compiled for, so they won't directly run on our older devices.
Yes, you can rebuild them, provided you have the sources and the development environment, but it's not an easy task.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

Sounds like fun. :(

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

No we all aren't. The noisiest of us are, and they seem to be the ones that just got to know Maemo with their shiny N900. The whining is really getting old guys.

770 ran OS2005, OS2006, OS 2007HE and OS2008HE
N800 ran OS 2007 and OS 2008 (Chinook & Diablo).
N810 ran OS 2008 (Chinook & Diablo), because it wasn't around for OS 2007.

That's not building an OS for one device and dropping support later.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

* No matter how many UX changes vendors do, they need to provide the official MeeGo API if they want to call their product a MeeGo device.
* I bet the MeeGo build infrastructure (OBS) will minimize the rpm/deb hassle for developers. I expect the average user not to even bother about this.
* Closed hardware driver are problematic only when the owners don't provide updated versions for new releases. The MeeGo project is working hard to have those drivers owners on board.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

MeeGo is open-source.

The obsolescence argument makes no sense!

When MeeGo is eventually ready I would imagine it will be possible to port it to older devices too - 770, n800 & n810 as well as the n900.

One of the reasons I chose the n900 was because it's open-source and not a proprietory OS.

Ok there are close-source binary blobs in maemo - but that will eventually change.

BTW: Harmattan ~= MeeGo

I've had proprietory devices in the past and obsolescance or "legacy" support always frustrated me.

MeeGo is the way to go and actually gives us more choices, even older devices can benefit from this.

Imagaine the 770, 800, 810 and n900 running the same OS?
It could happen.

There is nothing wrong in being skeptical but I would rather choose a more positive state-of-mind.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

The reason that Nokia have to keep moving through OSes is that the hardware for these devices is moving forwards at such a rate. It is not like the desktop market where a 3 year old machine is still pretty capable. A three year old smart phone is like a chocolate teapot (cue barrage of abuse from N770 owners).

You can't keep the OS fresh and taking advantage of new hardware while keeping backwards compatibility. And if you did you'd only end up in a mess as apps would have to be compiled for different architectures and specifications.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

That's nice and I (we?) appreciate your efforts, but please also try to get them to actually open source their drivers. That's the ultimate solution I'm sure most of us are hoping for.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

Linux is doing ok!

When MeeGo is ready Linux will be doing just fine on mobiles too.


I think your argument is weak.

Re: Will MeeGo finally end the Rapid Obsolescence Syndrome (ROS)
 

This is either a lie or said out of ignorance.

The devices (770, N800, N810, N900) are closed - a lot of their functionality depends on closed drivers (kernel or user space) from Nokia, so only Nokia can port meego (or any other OS) to those devices, but they already indicated they do not intend to do it. You can still hope that they give you the necessary information, either by documentation of the hardware they use or by opening their code, but there is no real reason to expect it to happen.