Thread: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
View Single Post
SD69 is offline SD69
2010-06-20 , 16:50
Posts: 1,513 | Thanked: 2,248 times | Joined on Mar 2006 @ US
#295
Originally Posted by javispedro View Post
Well, that's something I'm trying to do... at least for the "Harmattan" MeeGo.
Thank you. There is also some consideration for Diablo, which Qwerty12 says is more open than Fremantle. I don't know at this point but it's good that people are thinking about it.

-----------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by javispedro View Post
My personal opinion of what is currently wrong is that we currently have three mostly divergent (there's always exceptions!) communities.

- Mostly represented here we have the old and "Nokia-deprecated" Maemo community. It is the biggest one by far because there's actual, released devices involved.
- Mostly represented on the MeeGo MLs we have the "new" MeeGo community and the one we're supposed to "move into". But as it is now all I can get from MeeGo is a set of make-your-own-distro tools. Which are much better than Maemo's and fully OSS, but why would I be interested in them?
- And then, what should have been the main focus for quite a lot of people as it's what's going to be the visible part of the future Nokia device -- the Harmattan/DUI/MeegoTouch development community -- is quietly hidden under Gitorious, blogs and/or behind Nokia doors, and few people are monitoring it. Why? Why? It is THERE where I can sometimes smell the awful odour of closed source components approaching (but fortunately the picture seems generally better). And -- you're looking for the N900+1 GUI? It's right there in front of your eyes. Hint hint! Stop looking at MeeGo Netbook/Moblin screenshots.

And the sad truth is that so far instead of getting everything and everybody happily "merged" like Maemo mostly was we're distancing ourselves even more. And this won't look good.
Yes, I agree that there are these divergent communities aligned with 1) legacy maemo UI; 2) OSS; 3) DUI/MeeGo touch. This is not to say they are not complementary and supportive of each other. It is largely a natural consequence of the decision Nokia made to have more open (allegedly) OS and then differentiating UI/UX, apps and services on top of it.

I don't think distancing is good, but I also don't know if a messy merger this year is the best way forward. I'm feeling pressure to be dragged into MeeGo which, given history, makes me more reluctant (not that I have much to contribute to the OS anyway). I think it's best for me to stay with maemo.org for awhile. Perhaps it is best to let each community digest and adjust, and when and if there is a decision to do a merger, to do it in a way where the majority of people are happily "merged".
__________________
3-time Maemo Community Council Member
Co-Founder, Hildon Foundation