Slashdot Mirror
Open Source Not Welcome At Palm App Catalog
davidmwilliams writes "It appears Palm is seeking to follow Apple's footsteps in gaining a reputation for inconsistent and spurious rejections and removals of iPhone and iPod Touch applications. In this case, Palm has resisted including a free application because the source code is attainable elsewhere."
I've released an open source password management app for webOS (http://www.precentral.net/homebrew-apps/keyring), and a rep from Palm contacted me to offer help in getting my app into the catalog. They have no issues with open source, and no problem with the code being available elsewhere. The problem here is that jwz got his panties in a twist, and he needs to take a few deep breaths.
This article is dumb. Palm is working hard on getting everything in line and many policies have evolved. They have ALREADY said they're working with the developer and that it's okay that the source is available.
The App Catalog is still in beta so the latest terms, etc are not there. I don't even know why Slashdot accepted this article as it was already debunked and addressed by Palm.
You must be... oh.
Sure, I know that new cool thing is to hate on Apple, the iPhone, iTunes, and the like
I'm a middle-aged, overweight fat computer bloke that moans if he has to spend more than £8 (=$12) on a pair of jeans and listens to Jethro Tull in his spare time - believe me, I gave up on "cool" a long time ago...
I just don't want you getting the impression that most people like or hate things because it's "cool" to do so. In 30+ years of working and playing with computers, I've never found a single reason to own anything or buy anything made by Apple and that isn't going to change any time soon.
Yes, maybe if Apple were less proprietary and locked in than Microsoft, I might consider ditching both Windows and Linux for their products, but the fact is I don't like Apple because they charge far too much for something that looks nice yet doesn't let you do what you want with it... ...and my experience with most (but not all) Apple users is that they pay a premium price in order to join an exclusive little club where they are permitted to sneer at anyone who doesn't use Apple products without having any requirement to give any technical justifications for it. That, in turn, creates the anti-Apple backlash.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Seriously... Palm does get it. They've hired two outstanding people to lead the developer relations (Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer). They've already reached out to jwz, who just spit in their eye(s). This seems nothing more than an overgrown toddler having a tantrum because he doesn't get his way now. I wrote about this on my blog. I tried to keep it a somewhat balanced article but seriously, his actions since just make him seem petulant. Is Palm without reproach in this? No, they're going through the pains of releasing an app catalog, SDK and an app approval process all at once. Things aren't as smooth as they could be but they're nowhere near 'kafkaesque'. This certainly didn't warrant a slashdot post and certainly doesn't warrant two of them.
Author of Enyo: Up and Running from O'Reilly Media
They have ALREADY said they're working with the developer and that it's okay that the source is available.
In private email, they did. And if you TFA (and the blog post), they said that "it's okay" before they released a new version of SDK, the license agreement for which explicitly states that it's not okay (which is the one linked from GP's post). So their position is at best unclear, and at worst - if you consider chronological order - they've rescinded their earlier words.