Maemo App Store
 

I'm curious about this:

What are your thoughts on a Maemo App Store in the same vain as the iPhone App Store?

I for one like the idea, but I'm interested in hearing your views.


}:^)~
YARR!

Caperion

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Re: Maemo App Store
 

A good link to be sure. Thank you for that. In doing a search to ensure I wasn't duplicating any threads, I came across the App Manager improvement discussion and skimmed it's contents. I suspect that the wiki is (at least in part) the result of that discussion.

This is a little different: I'm interested in what you (and the other members) think about an app store -- a site/program where you can purchase applications for the Maemo platform. Good idea, bad idea? Why?



}:^)~
YARR!

'Loose Cannon' Corrupt

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Not really, mostly those are ideas that've been floating about in my brain for a long time that I finally got around to writing down.

Well, mostly a pointless idea as things stand now, since there's basically exactly one for-purchase application for Maemo. This is why I linked the wiki page, since the "application viewing, browsing, rating and installing" part of the App Store is much more interesting, for us, than the "buying" part.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Good job on the wiki BTB...

Aw, c'mon, there are at least two :D (I recall a map app, and a tv streaming app)..

Thanks for the input, though! Do you think that an App store will increase development on Maemo by way of monetary incentive? It seems to have worked well for the iphone, palm, and symbian platforms.

Anyone else? I'm really interested in what you think on the subject!


}:^)~
YARR!

Capt'n Cola

*EDIT -- fixed some grammar

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Forum Nokia is offering support for this commercial software.
Developers can sell its Maemo applications in the Nokia Market

It isn't an App store, but I don't see why (if there was interest and a good quantity of commercial software) the Application Manager couldn't have support to show this software.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

But is that buying the application or buying the navigation service/the streaming hardware? ;)

I suppose it might, but Linux users aren't typically very inclined towards purchasing software.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

I think it is a good idea if you can find people to make the apps I have offered several times to pay for apps to be made and have never got anyone interested in it.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

http://tableteer.nokia.com/tableteer...8/os2008.xhtml is as good as it gets :) but there has been a lot of work recently to improve the application manager. And the existing repositories as well.

However, I'd prefer a bounty type system as it is more fair and in the spirit of FOSS.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Where's the emoticon for index-finger-touching-nose when you need it? :D

}:^)~
YARR!

Capada

Re: Maemo App Store
 

Agreed. Considering that Maemo is being groomed for mass-appeal, it may attract software companies that fill gaps that OS hasn't.

In an interesting twist, the software companies may start considering cross-platform libraries like QT more seriously when building their apps as they have more exposure to them. It could be a significant boon to linux in general. Instead of having polarity between all-closed and all-open, you have a system that marries the two and lets the users/market decided what it wants.

In addition, the added popularity may attract more 'hackers' to the system. This seems to be the case with the iPhone even considering how closed it is. I suspect many developers would have field-day with an open, pocketable linux computer.

<offtopic>
By the way, I tried browsing the web on the N810. ZOMG. Amazing. Easily better than the iPhone -- no competition IMO. It really is the 'full web in your pocket'. If I didn't feel that the N900 was around the corner, I would totally buy an N810 tomorrow.
</offtopic>


In the end, I believe it adds choice, which could be a potentially great thing. It doesn't mean in any way that OSS has to be stifled.

There's beauty in the grey.


}:^)~
YARR!

ZOMG Corrupt

Re: Maemo App Store
 

I'm a huge proponent of Open Source as well so I can really appreciate your sentiment.

I'm thinking about the app store in a bit of a round-about way. I see an app-store increasing the popularity of the device and, as stated in a previous post, creating a truly competitive marketplace that would spawn innovation in both open and closed source software.

Competition is good, no?


}:^)~
YARR!

capt = (void *)corrupt

Re: Maemo App Store
 

What I like about my N800 compared to things like the iPhone is that I can just download and install great 3party software, I don't have to go to some store and pay to download, not to mention the story about the Apple "approval".

"Download center" good, "Store" bad. :)
If I can do apt-get source and rebuild the applications myself, so much for the better.

Re: Maemo App Store
 

I tried to suggest a middleway: offer a donation button on the maemo/download section.

https://wiki.maemo.org/Task:donation_on_download_page

But not much response up to now.

Yesterday I read about sim city for iphone. This would even be a reason for me to buy an ipod touch:-) I never played it, as I hate to sit in front of my desktop and playing, but on a N800 or an ipod touch ... They charge about 10$ ...

I myself think about programming some little mind training games. As a mathematics teacher we play some nice games in the class room. Actually I was searching a way to programm for N800 and iphone (from one source code) when I found this discussion here.

So I realy think about going to town, buying an ipod touch and sim city and start programming for ipod touch with my mind training games ...

Re: Maemo App Store
 

The thing with an app store is that as GA said, linux users aren't the typical market for buying software as usually everything is free and open source no? Iphone, blackberry, windows mobile they are all targeted towards a huge consumer base and market with a lot of money that is willing to be spent (for example, businessmen who don't care about spending $40 for spb mobile suite to make their windows mobile phone more productive) whereas the internettablets and maemo itself is not incredibly popular (you mention iphone to a random person, they know what you're talking about, you say nokia n800 and they stare at you like you're an alien from a distant planet). Even if you had an app store hoping the monetary incentive would attract people, the incentive isn't very strong with a market far smaller than an iphone or blackberry. Developers would be far more inclined to spend their time developing an app for the iphone/wm/blackberry/symbian because they would make more money. I think in the case for maemo, it would be better to stick with people in the community developing for incentives other than monetary. GA's idea of improving app manager i think is a great solution, but looks tedious. it might be easier to just start over with all the repositories. right now if i click "view applications availble to download" i get a huge list and i dont' know what each node means :)

edit: oh and i forgot to mention android. although opensource, it's marketing (through google and tmobile) is vastly superior to that of nokia's for the internettablet (as it's thunder was stolen by the itouch :P ) and the fact that many phones in the future are probably going to have android as the os, there would be of course a higher financial gain for them as it's users are just normal cellphone consumers as opposed to maemo with only the internettablets using the os, (and even then people always porting other OSes like android and garnet VM :P) maemo appstore imho financial motivation would not be a great incentive.