Nokia Confirms Symbian Is No Longer Open Source

theweatherelectric noted an article on the H. From the article "Nokia has confirmed that it has closed the source code for the Symbian smartphone operating system. It says that despite it describing its new model for Symbian smartphone operating system development as 'open and direct' the 'open' part did not refer to 'open source' but to being 'open for business'. The 'open and direct' model is designed, according to Nokia, to 'enable us to continue working with the remaining Japanese OEMs and the relatively small community of platform development collaborators we are already working with.''"

Comments

just.. wow

[VAElynx]

OK stop.
I get it.
Some asshole said he was "open"
but he was only open for business

Anyone remember this lyrics segment from one of the OpenBSD release songs (a bonus track)
It's sad that what's a joke one day becomes reality in few years

Re:just.. wow

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Damn. Beat me to it. OpenVOX.

In this case, it's kind of hard to see Symbian's brief flirtation with openness as a major loss; but it has always interested me that the OpenBSD guys, whose work lacks the legal terms in favor of remaining open that the GPLed Linux team has, are nevertheless some of the most consistent supporters of fully-open systems outside of the core FSF people.

It's Nokia's code, and they can do what they want; but it is rather hard to see this as anything other than the spasmodic flailing of a dying platform, rather reminiscent of the bipolar behavior Sun was exhibiting shortly before their demise(only more serious, since the odds of Symbian related techologies being installed by the end user on a phone sold as non-Symbian are basically zero, while absolute fuckloads of non-Sun servers and desktops end up running JVMs...)

Re:just.. wow

[Nursie]

And those some would be wrong.

More free for the first party that gets the code, much less free for third parties that are given binaries later.

RMS is a zealot on this, it's true. But I applaud people who release GPL code because they are giving everyone the continuing right to learn and to tinker with the fruits of their labour, not just the first party. I also applaud people that release BSD code as it is very generous, but as an end user it is frequently less useful.

I am not free to tinker with my playstation 3, but there is BSD code in there.

Re:just.. wow

[mwvdlee]

...which is probably what the BSD license is most appropriate for; improving interoperability between ALL types of projects both open and closed source.
GPL pretty much forces closed source to make their own implementations of standards, which may or may not be 100% compatible. LGPL makes it a bit less difficult but BSD (and similar licenses) make it easy for every piece of software to play together nicely.

Idealogically, GPL is like giving a gift and demanding gifts in return, BSD is like giving a gift for the simple joy of making somebody happy with a gift. Neither one is technically better than the other; it's just a matter of personal values.

FWIW, I release code with both BSD and GPL licenses and some others (ZLib/LibPNG, MIT and closed licenses).

Re:just.. wow

[TheRaven64]

The original code remains free forever. Modifications to that code (i.e. extra work) may or may not be free depending on what the person doing the modifying wants to do

Note that this is independent of the BSD Vs GPL argument. Google has a massive amount of proprietary code in their custom version of Linux, but they don't distribute it so the GPL doesn't kick in.

Last statistics I saw, 90% of programmers were employed on in-house projects that are never intended for distribution. Assuming approximately even productivity, this means that around 90% of code that is written can incorporate GPL'd code without having to be distributed. The only difference between the BSDL and GPL in this context is that the BSDL is simple for anyone to understand, while the GPL needs running past the corporate lawyers (who probably get nervous at at least one of the clauses and reject it).

Re:Why close it now?

[Anonymous Coward]

To ensure that it really dies, instead of some roque developers actually making it an viable option?

Re:Next

[Anonymous Coward]

Rock on, bitches:
http://www.kde.org/community/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php

Borg assimilation in progress

[Anonymous Coward]

This is exactly what happens when a Microsoft mole takes over a company. Past example:

-Rick Belluzo: while at HP, he announced to the press that HP would be "dumping HPUX" in favour of Windows NT (it wasn't true, and it did cause a panic of sorts). Windows NT 3.1, no less. Later, the mole moved on to SGI where he did precisely that: threw IRIX in the trash and attempted to shove Windows NT where it didn't belong. After thoroughly destroying SGI, he then moved to the Borg Cube itself, I'm sure with a big fat reward.

Worked at a Symbian-using Japanese Company

[Anonymous Coward]

Fujitsu. Musashi-Nakahara office, actually.

Entire rows of programmers working late overtime, desperately trying to figure out how to get something working in Symbian. It was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw. Even more, in order to get into the office to talk to someone, you need to sign a release that permits you to view the Symbian source.

I'm sure Symbian is a source of income for Nokia, with unimaginative Japanese companies like Hitachi and Fujitsu stumbling over themselves trying to find new ways to get a return on their 10 year "experience investment". God forbid they actually try to build something that Docomo and AU didn't order them to build - the idea of building a phone for the gigantic foreign market never hit them, apparently.

As an side, my supervisor there was a intelligent lady who was chosen out of 400 applicants. Her response when I told her about the iPhone 2g? "Why would anyone use that? Won't it get finger prints all over it?"

Re:Seriously?

[Archangel Michael]

Are they TRYING to lose relevance?

Yes. And the exec that is making the calls is going to get out with a nice golden parachute and get all his Microsoft Stock Options back, while the people who own Nokia Stock are getting screwed.

Re:Why close it now?

[Locutus]

Just remember who they signed a billion plus dollar contract with and you have your answer. Part of the cleanup and part of the plan to make sure Nokia is dead in 5 years and everything goes to the partner. IMO

LoB

Re:Hey assholes ! Error 503 Service Unavailable

[vuke69]

I'm sure they'll get around to fixing it right after they get around to fixing Slow down cowboy! It has been 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 12 seconds since you last posted a comment.

Some real rocket surgeons working at Slashdot, it seems.

Odd... that's almost exactly the amount of time it takes between when I hit the preview button, and when it finally lets me hit submit.

Re:Nokia who?

[mcvos]

That's only because their older phones are practically indestructible. Nokia seems rather determined to be on the way out at the moment.