Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

http://www.extremetech.com/computing...its-own-device

Another "webby" OS... oh my.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

I'm surprised that the couple of posts on boot2gecko haven't gotten any kind of response here. For a crowd that is obviously not satisfied with the current mobile OS status quo, I'd think something like this would get a little more attention.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

True but I know a few like me are so wowed by Harmattan and its intuitive swipe interface that anything else seems a little depressing.
You wouldn't believe how many times I handle other people's phones and just want to swipe away apps, etc.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Let alone the whole "browser is the whole OS". What's wrong with an operating system anyway?

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Honestly... I'd say a lot is wrong with an operating system on the cellphones. The level of expectations that we have here mean we'd expect nothing less than terminal, root, ssh, git, cap, ftp in a mobile OS. But that can get heavy. Can mean that the solution will require stronger/faster hardware.

But what about folks that want less? It needs to be cheap. It needs to be quick to port to and it could be web only. Does that mean that this will be a solution? No. But it's a possibility.

ChromeOS isn't doing too well, so this might not do well either. But let's see... I'm honestly curious.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

If an LG smartphone running B2G actually hits the high street then I will get excited.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Well, all these things are no problem at even with very outdated hardware as quite a few people run SSH servers, FTP or GIT repositories on their home routers, that are much less powerful that even the N900, without any issues.

A proper GUI toolkit (Qt,EFL,..) integration (location, camera support, video playback, 3D) might be a bit more difficult to get going.

I think the issue is probably that the manufacturers don't see "us" (power-users/developers) as the target group for their devices so they don't bother to officially support all this.

On the other hand, who would like to develop applications for such a limited, locked down and everyday-unusable device (case in point - Windows Phone)? Not counting commercial developers of course. :)

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

It seems Mozilla have also got Telefonica (O2 in the UK) onside: http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2012/02...-the-platform/

LG haven't done as well as they'd like in the smartphone market, hopefully an open platform and the interest of a major carrier will prove to be a real temptation for them.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Boot2Gecko OS for Nokia N9?

http://romaxa.info/fennec/IPCEmbeddi...arm_n9.tar.bz2

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

I submit to you that all of the above together are vastly lighter than your average twitter or facebook client, let alone an entire browser :-)

Indeed. I'm not at all excited by the concept, but its one saving grace is that Mozilla don't seem to have much vested interest in making devices that are actively hostile against their owners. Iff those devices materialise, it may be possible to do interesting stuff with them.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Whoa... whoa.

I get what you guys are saying, I don't think you guys understood fully - not anybody's else fault but my own because I wasn't clear at all.

On top of the aforesaid: terminal, root, ssh, git, cap, ftp, et all; it starts to get heavier from there - applications, UI, features, notifications and so forth.

I'm still on the list of folks that want this to happen. B2G has my attention moreso than even Tizen.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

ACK, I hear you. GUIs are hard and it's very very rare that someone gets it even slightly right.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

With Boot to Gecko, carriers would have an open operating system, based on an open browser and framework, with a truly open Marketplace. Carriers could create their own Open Web Marketplace and populate it with their own apps, and create their own rules. They could brand the OS and load it up with as much or as little bloatware as they like. With B2G, carriers would once again be in control.

Seeing how manufacturers and carriers went nuts with Android and symbian/ism before this, I can see them having a field day with B2G.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

With B2G the whole GUI will be implemented in HTML5/JS, if you don't like the default GUI you should be able to create your own pretty easily.

I like using QooxDoo for webified stuff, it's light on the HTML/CSS and much more focussed on the JS which feels better to someone who's more used to desktop development.

As MINKIN2 rightly said customisation should be easy, but not just for carriers for users too.

The fact B2G is from Mozilla makes it even better, it's nice to have such an ethical player entering the arena.

Re: Boot2Gecko devices coming?
 

Ok, so what about running this stuff on our N900's, N950's and N9's?
Any progress so far? I remember a video of an N900 running it but I'm not sure about this.