Tizen Source Code Released

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Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 10, 2012 @09:26AM from the early-look dept.

sfcrazy writes with news that developers for the Tizen project, an open source mobile OS based on MeeGo (itself a child of Moblin and Maemo), have posted a preview of their source code and SDK. They warn, "Please keep in mind that this is a very early preview and is not yet designed for use to create production applications. Further enhancements and improvements to Tizen and its development environment will continue as we work towards a formal release over the coming months." The source code is available here.

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Early preview by Rik+Sweeney · 2012-01-10 09:30 · Score: 5, Funny

and is not yet designed for use to create production applications.
Too late, it's already been added to the next Ubuntu release :P

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1. Re:Early preview by masternerdguy · 2012-01-10 09:36 · Score: 2
  
  It wont break ubuntu anymore than it already is don't worry.
  
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2. Re:Early preview by syousef · 2012-01-10 11:03 · Score: 2
  
  It wont break ubuntu anymore than it already is don't worry.
  Ubuntu is an African word for "You'll take what I give you and you'll like it!!!"
  
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none of them by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-10 09:33 · Score: 2, Interesting

ever seem finished, do they?
Samsung and Tizen? by rysiek · 2012-01-10 09:40 · Score: 1

Samsung seems to be backing Tizen now: http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/01/09/samsung-backed-open-source-mobile-os-tizen-leaks-in-new-screenshots/ This is interesting, taking Samsung's position in Android: http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/09/2151233/samsung-could-soon-start-to-twist-googles-arm Maybe I actually will find a good replacement for my Maemo-based N900... :)
1. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-10 10:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Samsung isn't just backing Tizen.. Samsung WROTE Tizen in it's entirety (well except the Open Source bit). They've had Rasterman (the author of the EFL library they're using) on their payroll for quite a few years now.
  That said, don't see a great strategy here from Samsung, they're the no1 maker of Android and WP7 phones too. Their strategy seems to do all platforms.
2. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Synerg1y · 2012-01-10 10:06 · Score: 1
  
  Brought to you from the same ppl who lock smartphone boot loaders and specialize in TVs.
3. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 10:10 · Score: 2
  
  I thought it was Motorola that specialized in locking smartphone bootloaders and refused to provide a means to unlock.
4. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by teh31337one · 2012-01-10 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  What?
  Samsung are one of the few OEMs to not lock their bootloaders. If you go low enough (read: ODIN or heimdall) you can do whatever you want with it.
5. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Synerg1y · 2012-01-10 10:39 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  No your right, Samsung makes decent phones, it's Motorola that's the problem, I take back 50% of my statement. Still an OS from Samsung? Seems everybody wants an OS nowadays ;)
6. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  I think Samsung just wants one that isn't owned by Google.
7. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by ozmanjusri · 2012-01-10 10:50 · Score: 2
  
  Still an OS from Samsung? Seems everybody wants an OS nowadays ;)
  http://www.bada.com/
  
  --
  "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
8. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by MrHanky · 2012-01-10 10:52 · Score: 1
  
  If it's using the EFL library, then perhaps it's based on Bada rather than Meego, which revolved around Qt?
9. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  It's not based on Bada. It's based on SLP, which is a rather standard Linux platform that uses dpkg-deb. Other bits and pieces, minus Qt, will be brought to Tizen by Intel.
10. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by MrHanky · 2012-01-10 11:28 · Score: 2
  
  So it's based on Meego the same way that Wings were based on Beatles.
11. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Nursie · 2012-01-10 15:33 · Score: 1
  
  Whilst I'm sure he's awesome, let's never forget that Rasterman was heavily involved in OpenMoko, and look how well that went....
12. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by dbIII · 2012-01-10 18:13 · Score: 1
  
  It looked good and functioned (Rasterman's area) but didn't follow through with hardware (somebody else's area).
13. Re:Samsung and Tizen? by Nursie · 2012-01-10 19:22 · Score: 1
  
  TBH I have no idea what Rasterman's contribution was, but the software on the Freerunner was pretty horrific. That said the main problem was management IMHO - allowing multiple, continuous redesigning of the base platform instead of making a plan and sticking to it.
NOT based on MeeGo by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-10 09:48 · Score: 3, Informative

The current Tizen is not based on MeeGo in any way at all. It was written entirely inside Samsung, Intel only joined the project at a very late stage when all the code was written.
1. Re:NOT based on MeeGo by Microlith · 2012-01-10 10:00 · Score: 2
  
  Most of the code itself is currently from SLP, which itself is pulled from many existing open source projects. Intel will be bringing plenty along with it. There's also a lot of stuff not settled on yet.
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by Microlith · 2012-01-10 09:49 · Score: 1

Oh? What meego based device would that have been?
Great! So when can I... by vga_init · 2012-01-10 09:52 · Score: 1

...install it on my netbook? Like many Slashdotters, I bought a fist generation EeePC way back when the whole netbook idea was new. I got a "surf" model that only came with 4 gigs of flash storage and nothing more, so finding an adequately small operating system to put on it was rather difficult without doing some tedious custom configurations, when all I wanted was to just surf the web. Moblin/Meego was the perfect thing because I could just download the image from their site, load it up, and boot up with wifi and web browsing. I'm hoping to get the same thing with Tizen, but I'm a little bit apprehensive about whether or not I'm still going to get that kind of support now that the project's been refactored. If they're making a source release now, then I expect to seem some builds!
1. Re:Great! So when can I... by Tenebrousedge · 2012-01-10 10:26 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The best thing about Moblin/Meego was that it booted in five seconds. The technology was originally demo'd in 2007 by an Intel engineer, and has been part of the project since then. Other distros have picked up on some of the technology (sreadahead, parallel boot) but no one else has come close to the actual boot times. The EeePC's bios also had a 'readahead' feature that basically saved the bios state to disk (SSD) and read that into memory the next boot, practically eliminating the BIOS segment of the boot time. Other mobos presumably have similar features, but seven seconds from power button to desktop on a netbook was mind-blowing at the time, and is still impressive.
  IMO they should have kept the focus on it as a netbook platform, and not gotten bogged down trying to package it for car stereos and cell phones and netbooks all at once. It would have made the transition to tablets with little UI modification.
  
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2. Re:Great! So when can I... by Hatta · 2012-01-10 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  Just install a minimal distro like Debian (via netinst) or Arch, and then install only what's needed to surf.
  
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  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
3. Re:Great! So when can I... by voidphoenix · 2012-01-10 20:22 · Score: 1
  
  Sony also had several netbook-ish Vaios. They ran on VIA processors, Pentium Ms and Core (1st gen, not i-), iirc.
  
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4. Re:Great! So when can I... by jones_supa · 2012-01-11 01:00 · Score: 1
  
  Nice size. Standard Ubuntu installation these days takes a bit under 6GB. Just adding some statistics. :)
5. Re:Great! So when can I... by monkeyhybrid · 2012-01-11 13:02 · Score: 1
  
  Is that from a DVD install? I usually install from their CD ISOs which come with most things I need out of the box. After downloading updates and a few extras, my VM of Kubuntu 11.10 is just over 3GB in size.
6. Re:Great! So when can I... by jones_supa · 2012-01-11 17:04 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, DVD install.
WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by xxxJonBoyxxx · 2012-01-10 10:08 · Score: 1

Seriously - better summary needed.
Is it to replace the original OS on jailbroken phones?
Is it intended to be something that cell phone providers will someday ship on their phones?
Will it run as a mobile app on existing platforms?
1. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 10:12 · Score: 2
  
  Is it to replace the original OS on jailbroken phones?
  No. It is an open source, Linux based OS that leverages existing technologies found in the Linux world, such as glibc, Xorg, Enlightenment, Webkit, etc. with a focus on being a vendor-independent mobile OS platform. It is, in many ways, a push back against Google, whose platform is almost entirely insular from the rest of the open source world.
2. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by the+linux+geek · 2012-01-10 10:17 · Score: 1
  
  It's to provide a new OS for OEM's. Samsung is pushing it, and the screenshots refer to a Samsung device (I9500).
3. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 10:37 · Score: 2
  
  I did say "almost." Virtually the rest of the entire platform (Dalvik, Bionic, etc.) are all Google-only and see no use anywhere else. The one area where their system isn't insular, has spent years as a complete fork. Only recently have some changes been pushed upstream, and there are still notable parts not pushed up and meeting well deserved resistance.
4. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-10 10:52 · Score: 1
  
  "It is an open source, Linux based OS that leverages existing technologies found in the Linux world, such as glibc, Xorg, Enlightenment, Webkit, etc. with a focus on being a vendor-independent mobile OS platform."
  So not really focused at all then. It's maemo and meego all over again so far. Fuck that. Samsung, your SII is great, but you really need to build a FULL, ready, RELEASE platform with an SDK that has an IDE, emulators built into the IDE, RAD GUI development, GPS etc. included in the emulator, and so on. Just releasing a kernel and some other bits is WAY short of the mark these days.
5. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by UpnAtom · 2012-01-10 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  Intel decided Meego wasn't going anywhere without Nokia. Therefore they jumped in with Samsung. Whether Tizen will run Meego apps is anyone's guess.
6. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  Toss in Qt and it should work.
7. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Fri13 · 2012-01-10 12:50 · Score: 1
  
  Android itself use Linux operating system, as does Maemo aka Harmattan, as did MeeGo, as does Tizen and as does all other Desktop and Server distributions and not just those mobile phone Linux distributions.
8. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Fri13 · 2012-01-10 12:54 · Score: 2
  
  'Tim Bird, a Sony engineering veteran and the chair of the Architecture Group of the Linux Foundation's CE Workgroup, has announced a new concerted effort to get Android's changes to the Linux kernel back into the mainline Linux kernel tree.' Android has been using Linux 2.6.x for its devices since its release, with patches from Google. To date they haven't been merged back into the kernel mainline but existed on kernel.org. Some of the features such as wakelocks would help with Linux tablet projects, but other features aren't fully realized and support remains spotty.
  http://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/12/21/1633235/project-to-mainline-android-kernel-changes-formed
  
  Toward the end of November, the core Android code was returned to the staging tree, from which it had been removed at the end of 2009. Since the code's return to staging, changes have been going in and the code has caught up to its state in the Android tree. The code has now reached a point where, as summarized by Greg Kroah-Hartman on December 16:
  
  http://lwn.net/Articles/472984/
  
  Now almost two years later, a new effort that seems to have the backing of the Linux Foundation is aiming to bring Android back to the mainline. The project is officially titled the 'Android Mainlining Project' and was announced at the end of 2011 by Tim Bird Architecture Group Chair, CE Workgroup of the Linux Foundation and Senior Staff Engineer, Sony Network Entertainment.
  http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/android-set-to-return-to-the-linux-mainline.-will-it-succeed.html
9. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Fri13 · 2012-01-10 12:56 · Score: 1
  
  Tizen use same Linux operating system as does Android and as did MeeGo and as does Debian, Ubuntu and all other Linux distributions.
  Not a new OS, just a new distribution.
10. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 13:14 · Score: 1
  
  Same kernel but different, well, everything else. Tizen has more in common with MeeGo, Debian, Ubuntu, and what not than Android does with anything else.
11. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by UpnAtom · 2012-01-10 13:38 · Score: 1
  
  If I were Intel, I'd pay the Maemo/Meego community to do it. Shouldn't cost more than $25k which, for the goodwill alone, is peanuts. They also get one of the best communities in FOSS (these guys will appreciate ANY attention), hundreds of decent apps and a highly attractive platform for developers.
12. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Anssi55 · 2012-01-10 14:08 · Score: 1
  
  I think you are confusing Tizen with Meltemi, which is the new Linux based OS for low-end Nokia devices.
13. Re:WTF is the purpose of Tizen? by Microlith · 2012-01-11 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  $25K? Why? These aren't bizzare, incompatible platforms, it's a rather standard Linux platform that makes porting trivial.
  Mer will probably shift to a Tizen-compatible base, plus Qt, before long.
Proprietary SDK? by hweimer · 2012-01-10 10:23 · Score: 1

I see no SDK sources being posted except for some valgrind bit, and the SDK page talks about accepting an EULA. Are they really so stupid and try to ram down a proprietary SDK for what is supposed to be an open source operating system? And this within a Linux Foundation project?

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1. Re:Proprietary SDK? by gerddie · 2012-01-10 10:52 · Score: 2
  
  http://source.tizen.org/git/
2. Re:Proprietary SDK? by Microlith · 2012-01-10 12:33 · Score: 2
  
  Now try to find where upstream starts
  That's what Git repos are for, last I checked. And if it's anything like MeeGo, patches don't get accepted into the core platform until they've been accepted upstream.
  
  This is fucking dumb, how can you interact with the whole community when all you have is a bunch of directories?
  Apparently by staying quiet and holding on to it even longer until you're ready to ensure that knee-jerk comments are put down as quickly as possible.
3. Re:Proprietary SDK? by hweimer · 2012-01-10 14:40 · Score: 1
  
  From the copyright information accompanying the SDK:
  
  Except for the Open Source Software contained in Tizen SDK, all other software portions contained in Tizen SDK are governed by the terms and conditions of the Tizen Software Development Kit License Agreement, available at: http://developer.tizen.org/download/samsung_sdk_license.html
  
  Open source, my ass.
  
  --
  OS Reviews: Free and Open Source Software
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by pablodiazgutierrez · 2012-01-10 11:24 · Score: 1

I got an ExoPC Slate last year at a conference for development. Since MeeGo is a no go, I'm waiting for Android on x86 to be usable so I can finally put it to work.

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Re:Meego wasn't ready either by UpnAtom · 2012-01-10 11:27 · Score: 2

Nobody seems to have a problem with the N9, apart from the lack of apps.
Oh wait, that's another fork - Harmattan.
Code released? You know what that means... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-10 11:28 · Score: 2, Funny

Time to abandon it for another new platform!
1. Re:Code released? You know what that means... by Desler · 2012-01-10 11:50 · Score: 1
  
  Can we make sure it has an even stupider name than the last 3 as well?
This ain't Meamo by Weezul · 2012-01-10 11:32 · Score: 1

Another web based mobile OS? Why bother? I'll stick with native-ish code, thanks.
Btw, I'm still running Maemo on my N900, but I'll upgrade to Android soonish. Android is good enough, open enough, and satisfies the moral imperative of offering good open source encryption tools, i.e. not worthless CALEA garbage like facetime or skype.
Yes, encrypting your traffic is now a moral imperative, look around, maybe you don't have anything worth hiding, but some guy on your ISP probably organizes occupy stuff or whatever.

--
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1. Re:This ain't Meamo by Microlith · 2012-01-10 12:30 · Score: 1
  
  I'll stick with native-ish code, thanks.
  EFL is there. There's no restriction against native applications.
  
  Android is good enough, open enough
  Maybe for you. Apparently Samsung and Intel disagree.
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by Fri13 · 2012-01-10 12:59 · Score: 5, Informative

Not a fork but a "mother of MeeGo".
Harmattan is Maemo 6.0 + Qt
MeeGo is Maemo 5.0 + Moblin 1.0/1.1 + Qt
Tizen is MeeGo + LiMo
Maemo 5.0 -> Maemo 6.0 Harmattan aka MeeGo/Harmattan
Maemo 5.0 + Qt + Moblin -> MeeGo -> MeeGo + LiMo -> Tizen
Dumb by Coward+Anonymous · 2012-01-10 19:23 · Score: 1

Hasn't WebOS pretty much proven that using HTML+CSS+Javascript+web tech du jour) is a brain dead idea?
It's a horrible development paradigm that sort of works for the web because there is no other viable option given the constraints of the web. It's idiotic to force a hideous development model born of (web) constraints that do not apply in the target application (an embedded device).
C/C++ is where it's at. Palm, Google and Apple have proven that the so called benefits of using HTML+friends, or Java for that matter - lots of web developers, "safer" than unmanaged code - at the expense of app performance and quality are irrelevant when sufficient amounts of money flow in to developers.
1. Re:Dumb by sgt+scrub · 2012-01-11 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  None of those are C/C++. Apple is Obj-C, Google is Java, and Palm is... well, pretty much too dead for anyone to care.
  
  --
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2. Re:Dumb by Coward+Anonymous · 2012-01-11 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  True, Apple does use a mix of C and Obj-C.
  The 3 companies were brought up as a rainbow of outcomes. Palm the failure with a brain dead design (web in a box), Google with a successful-because-it's-free platform that is nonetheless a chronic under performer because of the chosen design (Java with pseudo web concepts mixed in) and Apple which is executing better than anyone with a solid design (C/C++/Obj-C with what is essentially a PC development platform).
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by Urkki · 2012-01-10 19:39 · Score: 1

I got an ExoPC Slate last year at a conference for development. Since MeeGo is a no go, I'm waiting for Android on x86 to be usable so I can finally put it to work.
Just install the Windows 8 preview on it, for now...
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by Goaway · 2012-01-11 00:28 · Score: 1

This sure seems like a much better development plan than ever actually finishing anything.
Re:Meego wasn't ready either by sgt+scrub · 2012-01-11 03:48 · Score: 1

It looks like Tizen is using EML instead of Qt. I haven't completely explored all the docs but so far it looks like; HTML5, jQuery mobile, WebKit, EML.

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