how 'open' is maemo5?
 

I wonder how open is maemo 5 from technical point of view. does Nokia keep the userspace N900 apps closed? so that developers cant do, let's say, tinkering with the UI animations or inserting some more features that look embedded into the os?

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

If you wanted to make your own animations you could write your own graphics using the Clutter library. Or OpenGL ES for that matter.

As for "embedding" things in the OS you'll have to be more specific with your question. Not everything is possible, but most things are.

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

being specific, like embedding ym chat into the contact rather than using pidgin which is a separate app. that's what i thought of now, because ym is more prevalent here.

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

the IM framework is called telepathy and is 100 percent free and open. if by ym you mean yahoo messenger, if you enable extras-testing and install telepathy-haze.

warning: extras-testing does not include 100pct stable software and may cause apps that take up a lot of battery or space or cause your n900 to become unstable. you enable it at your own risk.

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

Quite open. You can tinker with hildon desktop all you want, but applications on top of the platform (Browser, Media Player, etc) are usually closed source. Golden rule is 80% open, 20% closed of the platform (I normally define this as what's delivered on device minus the stuff that's not in SDK)

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

wow, it's already there? you mean I can have yahoo messenger embedded in the contacts? that's great. by the time the phone reach asian countries, maybe it's already in stable state. heheh. I'm waiting for n900. even if i had it now, i'd tried it and be helpful (at least in the testing part).

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

How about cooking roms like android? Will that be possible?

Eikido

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

You have root access so can do whatever you want to the phone! Also no need to cook roms to add extra low level stuff, just create a package like you would on debian/ubuntu.

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

i think he's asking about possibility to create your own "rom" (distribution), that includes open software, maybe together with closed source nokia software.

AFAIK creating you own "rom" is possible - look for mer. but i'm not sure about distributing your rom with closed source nokia software.

Re: how 'open' is maemo5?
 

Google came down like a ton of bricks on people distributing their closed source apps for free on an alternate rom. I would guess Nokia wouldn't be too happy either but it doesn't harm anyone to ask Nokia directly.