Linked by fran on Tue 26th Jul 2011 21:45 UTC
"Mozilla today announced Boot to Gecko , a very ambitious project that aims to create a 'complete, standalone operating system for the open web'. This project's goal is to develop what seems like a ChromeOS-like operating system where all the apps are based on HTML5."
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Member since:2009-04-08
Member since:2006-06-12
I think Palm had an x86 build of WebOS. WebOS is mostly open source, it's Linux with SDL. I think only a few libraries are proprietary. Of course, they are the most important ones, but still.
It is much more compatible with Linux than Android so you could add drivers and swap libraries with newer versions.
Member since:2009-06-20
It is not much for netbooks rather than for smartphones.
I see that mistake everywhere: the comparison with ChromeOS makes people think it is made for netbooks.
In fact, there is already an experimental OS equivalent to ChromeOS at Mozilla, it is called Webian Shell. B2G is the same idea as ChromeOS/Webian, but for smartphones.
Member since:2008-12-09
Read the mailing list discussion for more information.
The most amusing part is that they basically want to fork Android (for the OEM hardware support), remove the userland stuff, and drop Mozilla on top.
How many mobile OSs do we really need? Off the top of my head: Android, Meego, Maemo (dead), WebOS are all based on Linux. Then we have iOS of course, Bada from Samsung, WP7 from you-know-who, Symbian (dead), Blackberry (dead), and whatever strange thing RIM might cook up with QNX.
From what I understand, Moz's reasoning is that none of those systems are really open; even Android is pretty much developed behind closed doors to keep manufacturers and service providers happy.
The main question on my mind is that even if the OS truly _is_ OSS, what good is it if you can't load it on to your device? How is making another OS going to improve this?
Member since:2008-12-09
at even if the OS truly _is_ OSS, what good is it if you can't load it on to your device? How is making another OS going to improve this?
actually meego is pretty open source. i think what they want is to have a free (as in freedom, beer, and more) alternative os running on HTML/JS in case this stuff takes off (windows8 is based on that, webos is based on that, chromeos is based on that, so far)
Member since:2009-06-20
How many mobile OSs do we really need?
That (rhetorical) question is pointless for what is, for now, an experiment. Now, if I try to answer your question seriously:
-Monoculture is bad, for security as well as for progress (imagine if Apple died or ditched OSX, like so many argued because "we don't need it"...)
-the smartphone market may not be like the PC market: we will not see all platforms but one or two disappear.
http://www.asymco.com/2011/07/06/the-post-pc-era-will-be-a-multi-pl...
Sorry for the developpers.
-Which means that lazy developpers are better writing web apps; even if they want afterwards to turn their work into a native app, they often can encapsulate it inside a java/C#/objective-C/etc. container.
(Of course, I am completely at odds with the weak, stretched argument exposed here: http://mattgemmell.com/2011/07/22/apps-vs-the-web/ )
-Ergo, B2G is THE reference platform of the future. This is not only a question of open-source zealotism. There is far more sense and strategy into it.
Member since:2010-01-08
Read the mailing list discussion for more information.
The most amusing part is that they basically want to fork Android (for the OEM hardware support), remove the userland stuff, and drop Mozilla on top.
How many mobile OSs do we really need? Off the top of my head: Android, Meego, Maemo (dead), WebOS are all based on Linux. Then we have iOS of course, Bada from Samsung, WP7 from you-know-who, Symbian (dead), Blackberry (dead), and whatever strange thing RIM might cook up with QNX.
From what I understand, Moz's reasoning is that none of those systems are really open; even Android is pretty much developed behind closed doors to keep manufacturers and service providers happy.
The main question on my mind is that even if the OS truly _is_ OSS, what good is it if you can't load it on to your device? How is making another OS going to improve this?
The most amusing part is that they basically want to fork Android (for the OEM hardware support), remove the userland stuff, and drop Mozilla on top.
How many mobile OSs do we really need? Off the top of my head: Android, Meego, Maemo (dead), WebOS are all based on Linux. Then we have iOS of course, Bada from Samsung, WP7 from you-know-who, Symbian (dead), Blackberry (dead), and whatever strange thing RIM might cook up with QNX.
From what I understand, Moz's reasoning is that none of those systems are really open; even Android is pretty much developed behind closed doors to keep manufacturers and service providers happy.
The main question on my mind is that even if the OS truly _is_ OSS, what good is it if you can't load it on to your device? How is making another OS going to improve this?
Maybe there are a lot. But:
From the list above I would cut all dead ones and also Bada because it is targeting low and medium smartphones, not the high end ones.
What mozzila wants is a kind of chrome for smartphones.
WebOS supports HTML very well, but not in a standard way.
If mozzila has success with this, the API might be taken by other mobile OS. Web OS could use it and android might integrate it in WebKit. Also blackberry is opened to use API from other OS.
This means that if I am right, there will be one API for developing small apps and widgets on more platforms.
Complex apps, like games and complex GPS apps will remain platform specific.
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Member since:
2009-12-26
So basically just a webOS clone but with Gecko instead of WebKit ?