Cyanogen Inc. Reportedly Fires OS Development Arm, Switches To Apps (arstechnica.com)

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Cyanogen Inc. Reportedly Fires OS Development Arm, Switches To Apps (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Friday July 22, 2016 @03:30PM from the check-is-in-the-mail dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Android Police is reporting that the Android software company Cyanogen Inc. will be laying off 20 percent of its workforce, and will transition from OS development to applications. The Android Police report says "roughly 30 out of the 136 people Cyanogen Inc. employs" are being cut, and that the layoffs "most heavily impact the open source arm" of the company. Android Police goes on to say that CyanogenMod development by Cyanogen Inc "may be eliminated entirely." Ars Technica notes the differences between each "Cyanogen" branding. Specifically, CyanogenMod is a "free, open source, OS heavily based on Android and compatible with hundreds of devices," while Cyanogen Inc. is "a for-profit company that aims to sell Cyanogen OS to OEMs." It appears that many of the core CyanogenMod developers will no longer be paid to work on CyanogenMod, though the community is still free to develop the software." Android Police details the firing process in their report: "Layoffs reportedly came after a long executive retreat for the company's leaders and were conducted with no advanced notice. Employees who were not let go were told not to show up to work today. Those who did show up were the unlucky ones: they had generic human resources meetings rather ominously added to their calendars last night. So, everyone who arrived at Cyanogen Inc. in Seattle this morning did so to lose their job (aside from those conducting the layoffs)." Early last year, Microsoft invested in a roughly $70 million round of equity financing for the then-startup Cyanogen Inc. Not too long before that, Google tried to acquire Cyanogen Inc., but the company turned down Google's offer to seek funding from investors and major tech companies at a valuation of around $1 billion. Cyanogen Inc. CEO Kirt McMaster once said the company was "attempting to take Android away from Google" and that it was "putting a bullet through Google's head."

UPDATE 7/25/16: Cyanogen CEO and cofounder Kirt McMaster took to Twitter to dispel some of the rumors, tweeting: "Cyanogen NOT pivoting to apps. We are an OS company and our mission of creating an OPEN ANDROID stands. FALSE reporting was outstanding."

124 comments

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Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 15:36 · Score: -1

Holy fuck, I didn't realize just how disorganized open source projects were. Open source is pretty much a disaster. If you want software that's going to be supported (or a stable job as a programmer), closed source is the solution.
1. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:29 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  Try and censor me all you want, chickenshit moderators. The fact is, open source is a disaster. Companies that create open source software without legitimate businesses to offset the losses, are doomed to failure. There is no money in open source, nor will there ever be. Open source is a disaster, and employees should refrain from taking jobs or they will be treated horribly such as was the case in this firing process.
2. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:47 · Score: 0
  
  Sorry, fellow AC. You forgot to mention Micro$haft!
  (It's funny because of the '$', lmao5318008)
  Viva la boobie milk!
3. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:54 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  Stop harshin' their high, man! They will never acknowledge that behind every successful open source project is "Oprah's" money. Without it, the kernel would still be at 0.5.11rc2 doing 8bit color on a Hercules graphics card and connecting on 14.4 dialup to the fat kid next door using 8inch floppies.
  I am also posting AC because I know how the mods are seeing this. The truth really does smell rotten. To them, Linus had a pet dinosaur, just like Jesus..
4. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by uvajed_ekil · 2016-07-22 17:25 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Overreact much, chickenshit anonymous poster? This is indeed a big deal and makes me very nervous about the fate of CyanogenMod (whose releases I use on some of my own Android devices), but it is far from a sign that open source software is a "disaster." This is bad, and I don't like it, but it is not a harbinger of doom for the greater open source community, which has a lot more to offer than one family of Android distros.
  
  --
  This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
5. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 17:33 · Score: 0
  
  Crippling mental illness :(
6. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2016-07-22 18:13 · Score: 2
  
  Slashdot Canned Response #31: "So... you're about 14 years old, right?"
  --someone with mod points
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
7. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by ogdenk · 2016-07-22 18:40 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I don't know. CyanogenMod was actually doing pretty well before MS came along. Seems more like "Oprah's" money poisoned the well.
8. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by ogdenk · 2016-07-22 19:00 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Bullshit, Linux 1.2 ran quite well on my 486DX4/100 and supported all hardware. FreeBSD 2.2.8 ran nice on my K6/233. Even with basic 3D support. FreeBSD 4 ran great on my Athlon/600 with Adaptec 2940 (with a even bigger pile of SCSI drives, a Bernoulli and an Exabyte tape drive), Radeon 9200, 3COM PCI NIC and various other goodies.
  It really wasn't until purposely locked down 802.11 and mutant locked down 3D accelerators that we even NEEDED commercial backing. And it wasn't until commercial backing that people felt the need that a timesharing/server/developer/power-user OS needed to be palatable for millennial retards thus killing the appeal for most people who made it awesome to begin with. GNOME3, KDE4, SystemD..... all abominations and very un-unix-like. And..... it's still not the year of the linux desktop for grandma no matter how much you try to integrate the worst of Windows and MacOS into a bloated buggy shitshow.
  All this work over decades to replicate what UNIX users didn't want.... and then Google slaps a Java stack with a crippled poke-and-drool UI on top of the Linux kernel over a few years and it's in everyone's pocket. And desktop Linux sucks more than it ever did. Even MS wanted a piece of the Android pie, their piece just capitulated however.
9. Re:Wow, open source is a disaster by johanw · 2016-07-22 19:29 · Score: 1
  
  You mean like windows phone 7, 7.8, 8, 8,1, 10? Yeah, closed source does much better in dumping software indeed.
10. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 19:42 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I don't know. CyanogenMod was actually doing pretty well before MS came along. Seems more like "Oprah's" money poisoned the well.
  This is hardly a surprise, no company properly survives partnering with Microsoft. Lists of past Microsoft partners were passed around when Nokia did it (there was a much more extensive one but I can't find it)
  I think this is not only because Microsoft is incompetent or bad, it's probably not even mainly because they set out to destroy their partners. It is because Microsoft is, and always has been a slightly corrupt and amoral organisation. If you wanted a partner to develop your business you would find anybody else. When you see a company choosing to partner with Microsoft it either shows that somebody is trying to cash out before the business goes bad (like Linkedin I think) there's someone really criminally corrupt in charge (probably the Nokia case?) or that the people in charge haven't been following up on the history and haven't done their due diligence (almost certainly the case of parts of Nokia's board). Any one of these things is a bad sign for the future of a company.
11. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 21:22 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I would really like to see a Hercules card do 8-bit color. That would be legendary. The only way that's happening is if you drop acid, wait an hour and stare at the screen.
12. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by genocitizen · 2016-07-22 21:58 · Score: 0
  
  You know slashdot is finished when this comment gets rated 'troll'. I feel you, ogdenk. Could not have said it better..
13. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by oddware · 2016-07-22 22:35 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, just wow.
  An open source project shows some signs of problems and the MS zealots jump all over it.
  If only we went off just as much when a closed source program that people use goes down the tubes.
  I know i bit the troll but seriously, this is the bullshit the people actually swallow now days?
14. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by nadaou · 2016-07-22 23:47 · Score: 1
  
  [Free and] Open Source is what allows a project to survive a corporate purge like this. If it was closed and proprietary when they shut things down and fired everybody that would be the end of the road. But in this case the beat goes on.
  
  --
  ~.~
  I'm a peripheral visionary.
15. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 00:47 · Score: 1
  
  I think you are very unfair to include KDE4 in that list. Yes, it was bad at 4.0 but that is ancient history now. Many years ago it surpassed KDE3 in every possible way and it works in pretty much the same way, just better. If KDE4 isn't "unix-like" I don't know what is. It does not deserve to be compared to Gnome and Systemd.
16. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:03 · Score: 0
  
  Companies that create open source software without legitimate businesses to offset the losses, are doomed to failure.
  So true. When customers pay for a product, a small percentage of that is used to pay employees' salaries. In the case of open source software, a small percentage of $0 is still $0, because open source customers typically don't pay for software.
17. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Rob+Y. · 2016-07-23 01:39 · Score: 1
  
  Nothing about GNOME3, KDE4, SystemD, etc prevents Linux from being packaged as the unix-like server of your wet dreams. But those things do help make it a viable desktop system. Of course, they also make it too much of a moving target to be a wildly successful desktop system, but hey... the desktop is changing and losing relevance. Android and ChromeOS are certainly relevant in what seems to be rising to replace the traditional desktop.
  
  --
  Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
18. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:47 · Score: 0
  
  Bullshit, Linux 1.2 ran quite well on my 486DX4/100 and supported all hardware.
  That is what I'd like to see ideally with stock android and all tablets. Give me the easy ability to at least try to put on whatever OS I want, and if it doesn't work, the ability to at least put back what was on there. I haven't actually used CyanogenMod, though I have looked at it a few times. Replacing an OS is usually more complicated on a generic android tablet than a PC and it does not have to be. It should be no more complicated than burning a usb flash drive and rebooting and maybe a few prompts. Security wise you could then just have it display the date the system was last flashed by the user, and that it was a user loaded OS at boot.
  Instead we have this crap like Apple, Amazon and others sell that tries to lock you into their ecosystem. Perhaps we do need basic right to service and repair laws? I read awhile back that farmers could not even fix their own tractors.
19. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by deathguppie · 2016-07-23 02:55 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I think what he is talking about is how KDE has lost it's way. KDE3 had a very solid foundational philosophy based on everything is a file. That no matter what you accessed or how you accessed it or where it was in the end all you are accessing is a file. So from the user perspective you just needed a browser to access textFiles-documents-websites-media-NFS-SMB-SSH.. you name it. You could split the app into non overlapping windows ad infinitum and copy and paste from anything to anything as if there were no such things as different access or format types. That was goal. If you wanted to open that file with another tool it was right there in the left-click drop down menu or could be selected from the full list of applications available without having to search for the file from the application menu or application file browser.
  KDE4 s-canned that whole schema instead creating a just-like-everyone-else file browser and web browser (pushing konqueror to the background with no more development) and focusing instead on little desktop gizmos that never really took off. And while I admit the KDE activities thing is pretty cool it doesn't make up for the fact that it takes longer for the desktop to load than it does for the rest of the OS. KDE has really just become a big just-another-desktop..
  
  --
  once more into the breach
20. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 03:02 · Score: 0
  
  Hmm, a new Slackware version was released a couple weeks ago, so you can still use Linux the Olde Skoole way.
21. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you for a voice of sanity and reason.
  Historically the responses to reality is nothing but a shitshow. Slashdot didn't used to be like this. Now the youngsters think the shitshow is the new normal and rail against restoring sanity.
  A decade later and my Linux desktop is just now beginning to be as good as it was a decade and a half ago - only still less stable. Systemd is a train wreck.
22. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by ogdenk · 2016-07-23 09:01 · Score: 1
  
  Yep and even half of the text editors out there will need 750MB of dependencies and install 90% of the crap you installed slackware to get away from anyway. An application shouldn't require installing most of a bloated desktop environment just to function. At most they should require a small GUI widget library and do everything else with standard OS functions and functionality provided by standard X11 libraries/extensions.
  Unless you just want to run 20 year old software written in proper UNIX fashion, there's no realistic way to avoid the insanity. The shitshow has also made portability between mainstream Linux distros to different UNIX variants a complete nightmare.
23. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by ogdenk · 2016-07-23 12:45 · Score: 1
  
  It's amazing how many butthurt 15-25 year olds can't come to grips with the fact that they've destroyed something great and attempt to mod truth as trolling.
24. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-24 00:03 · Score: 0
  
  Funny; I feel the same way about most 0-40 year olds and the Internet.
25. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by trparky · 2016-07-24 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  No, CyanogenMod was actually doing pretty well before a majority of Android devices started showing up on the scenes locked down like Fort Knox. Most if not all devices sold in the United States are locked down by the carriers with locked bootloaders and no way to get root because the carriers want to control everything (Verizon being the worst of them all).
26. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by fustakrakich · 2016-07-24 09:59 · Score: 1
  
  You needed a screen?
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
27. Re: Wow, open source is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-25 20:28 · Score: 0
  
  exactly. big fan of KDE prior to 4. despite them always breaking things with every .0 release and not fixing em for ages. konqueror/dolphin was the last straw.
  Its still shiny but they lost theor way
Applications? by 110010001000 · 2016-07-22 15:36 · Score: 1, Insightful

There is zero money to be made in Android applications. What a disaster.
1. Re:Applications? by fustakrakich · 2016-07-22 15:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Cyanogen Inc is turning into just another Wall Street hedge fund like Uber and Pokemon, whose main business will be in the derivatives markets. "Android applications" is irrelevant to the portfolio. Lots of weird shit happening in the markets. I wonder if if all this "capitalization" is nothing a setup for a big crash (correction, amirite?) this fall. Might be a good idea to cash out by the end of August, and then pick up some good bargains in December.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
2. Re:Applications? by cheesybagel · 2016-07-22 17:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Well I wouldn't be that certain about that. But it's certainly stupid to knife the OS development arm, which was the only thing they had which was unique, for application development which is crowded with competition from everyone and their dog.
  .
3. Re:Applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 19:08 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed. IMHO (obviously?) the OS stuff was what made Cyanogen Cyanogen. Now to focus on apps? uhh what?
  The people who got axed should start their own OS company.
4. Re:Applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 20:24 · Score: 0
  
  I don't think most people are crazy about upgrading phones anymore. Or even doing much unique stuff, for that matter. It's rare to hear much about killer apps (pokemon go is a recent exception) and I can't remember the last time someone was excited enough about getting a new phone that they bothered mentioning it to me.
  Hell, I don't even hear actual people in the real world that really care about apple vs android. They just sort of use what they've been using, but otherwise aren't looking forward to new versions or anything.
5. Re:Applications? by serviscope_minor · 2016-07-22 21:42 · Score: 1
  
  Well I wouldn't be that certain about that. But it's certainly stupid to knife the OS development arm, which was the only thing they had which was unique, for application development which is crowded with competition from everyone and their dog.
  The OS is the combination for base plus some apps. I actually like the apps, I downloaded an OS image and extracted apps for things like file manager and torch etc and put them on a stock Nexus. Can't see there's much money in that though.
  And $1bn seems mad.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
6. Re:Applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 22:17 · Score: 0
  
  Pokemon GO.
  http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/pokemon-doubles-nintendos-stock-price-market-cap-40693642
7. Re:Applications? by gweihir · 2016-07-22 22:38 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Indeed. They have gone and killed what made them unique to now compete in the cheap-trash mass-market. Corporate suicide at its best.
  What will be interesting to see is whether Cyanogen Mod survives. The fired OS-group should start their own company and carry on. Maybe try Patreon financing or something like it.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
8. Re:Applications? by drinkypoo · 2016-07-22 23:25 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Well I wouldn't be that certain about that. But it's certainly stupid to knife the OS development arm, which was the only thing they had which was unique, for application development which is crowded with competition from everyone and their dog.
  Let's go around in circles, though: What made their OS development arm unique was their apps, that were designed not to work with AOSP like a well-designed app would. Meanwhile, AOKP and SOKP are supporting more devices between them than Cyanogenmod, so what do they actually have to offer other than their apps? Conclusion, stick with the apps.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
9. Re: Applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 03:15 · Score: 0
  
  >what do they have to offer other than apps.
  An os that doesn't relay everything to unknown third parties.
10. Re: Applications? by drinkypoo · 2016-07-23 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  >what do they have to offer other than apps.
  An os that doesn't relay everything to unknown third parties.
  It's the same OS offered by AOKP, except with some applications thrown in.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 15:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

... there will always be forks. That's the open source way. I'm not worried.
1. Re:After the knife ... by tripleevenfall · 2016-07-22 16:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  There will always be monopoly or fragmentation... pick your poison
2. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:24 · Score: 0
  
  Losers fragment. Winners monopolize. I'm not telling anyone to choose because one cannot "choose" between being a winner or a loser, it's an outcome determined by prior choices. What we can certainly tell is that choosing FOSS is more likely to lead to be a loser than the other way.
3. Re:After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 21:42 · Score: 0
  
  Until systemd takes it over.
4. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:08 · Score: 0
  
  Is systemd a spoon?
5. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:14 · Score: 0
  
  It's more like a collapsible spoke with one side of the spoon sharpened.
6. Re: After the knife ... by afgam28 · 2016-07-23 04:34 · Score: 1
  
  You're thinking from a company's point of view. The user's point of view is the direct opposite of what you said. Losers use what monopolists give them, winners use what they choose.
7. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 05:44 · Score: 0
  
  It's the [all-encompassing] plate.
8. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 05:56 · Score: 0
  
  A spork.
  Anyone remember spork fights?
9. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 22:28 · Score: 0
  
  Typical nerdy antisocial attitude: users do not give half a damn what apps they use, they care about results. Real people have lives outside their computers or smartphones, you know. To us they are means. We use what we deem right for the job. To us, freedom is something that we can enjoy in real life rather than what exists in a bunch of cold circuits. But then, a nerd can only live cold circuits. :)
10. Re: After the knife ... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-25 00:11 · Score: 0
  
  Those sacred "results" will completely blow up on them if/when vulnerabilities in applications are found (and in phone land they're found all the time due to poor programming and the value of information once cracked). Their "freedoms" are ever-eroding right under their nose while the politicians talk big about fear and security, while simultaneously doing everything possible to take security, freedom, and privacy away.
  The simpleton, while common, is the exact type of user who SHOULD care about the ability to choose, security, privacy, and healthy economies (i.e. competition).
  Commonality has never equated to the right way of thinking, I'm afraid. A million bozos who think the world is flat are still wrong.
Ship is sinking by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 15:46 · Score: 0

All the smart/talented employees they kept will be looking for new jobs now.
1. Re:Ship is sinking by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:44 · Score: 0
  
  Don't be ridiculous. All the smart/talented employees doubtless left years ago when their employer first hinted what kind of company they were. The people they're keeping now are simply the best of the dregs.
2. Re:Ship is sinking by Tumbleweed · 2016-07-22 17:14 · Score: 1
  
  136 employees before layoffs? Amazon could absorb that in a DAY and not even blink. I'm not exaggerating.
3. Re:Ship is sinking by uvajed_ekil · 2016-07-22 17:29 · Score: 2
  
  136 employees before layoffs? Amazon could absorb that in a DAY and not even blink. I'm not exaggerating.
  Maybe so, but I don't care much about Amazon firing or hiring 30 people, because they don't produce/polish my mobile operating system. Granted, I'm sure someone will successfully fork CyanogenMod if Cyanogen kills it, but I kind of like it as it is, since it actually works fairly well.
  
  --
  This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
4. Re:Ship is sinking by mlts · 2016-07-22 18:19 · Score: 2
  
  I hope CyanogenMod continues. Combined with Nova Launcher and some other apps, it makes a very stable, decent platform for day to day use, and a phone upgrade (assuming it has an unlockable bootloader) doesn't mean a UI change.
  The alternatives are "meh". At best, I there are people in the XDA forums who are top tier ROM chefs, making something custom that helps a device work quite well, but this can vary on device and how popular (or not) it might be. Most likely it might be a factory ROM, rooted, and debloated, but I'd rather have something built right from the ground up.
5. Re:Ship is sinking by DrXym · 2016-07-22 22:40 · Score: 1
  
  I expect it'll continue but it sucks that Cyanogenmod is so screwed up.
6. Re:Ship is sinking by gweihir · 2016-07-22 22:40 · Score: 1
  
  Time will tell. The basis is there, but are the capable and interested people? I hope they are.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
7. Re: Ship is sinking by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:10 · Score: 0
  
  It might welcome 30 cyanogenmod workers for fireos
Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:09 · Score: 5, Informative

I happen to still be employed by Cyanogen, Inc and work on the OS side so take the rumors with a grain of salt.
Employees will know more after Tuesday.
1. Re: Not entirely true by Type44Q · 2016-07-22 16:21 · Score: 1
  
  I hope not; CM13 nightlies for my S5 are finally getting stable enough that I can actually use the thing without wanting to snap it in half...
2. Re: Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:27 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  Why aren't you looking for a new job? Are you not talented enough to find one?
3. Re:Not entirely true by uvajed_ekil · 2016-07-22 17:31 · Score: 1
  
  I happen to still be employed by Cyanogen, Inc and work on the OS side so take the rumors with a grain of salt.
  Employees will know more after Tuesday.
  I hope you're being truthful, but given that you posted anonymously your comment carries absolutely zero credibility. Care to be more convincing? I WANT to believe.
  
  --
  This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
4. Re:Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:17 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I work at Oracle, which is run by lawyers. You better believe I'll never post anything about them in any fashion other than anonymously.
5. Re:Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:57 · Score: 0
  
  Christine,
  Find who that is. I thought my instructions were pretty clear. No exceptions.
  k.
6. Re:Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 20:04 · Score: 0
  
  I hope you're being truthful, but given that you posted anonymously your comment carries absolutely zero credibility. Care to be more convincing? I WANT to believe.
  Why should he care? The truth of his statement will be easily visible in the near future. For now it's just a fact that's interesting and allows us to move the discussion forward in advance of this being public officially released knowledge. In fact, even if what he says is true, it doesn't prove anything. Maybe he's being kept on as an OS expert to support their app development but doesn't know it yet and may not even agree to it later. Still, it's very likely true (otherwise someone would probably comment back that he knows this statement is wrong).
7. Re: Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 21:20 · Score: 0
  
  Posting something about your employer without being anonymous is just plain stupid!
8. Re:Not entirely true by gweihir · 2016-07-22 22:42 · Score: 1
  
  My condolences. That company has some good and some bad tech, but the management is among the most evil and negative in the world. "Lawyers" would explain that nicely, of course.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
9. Re:Not entirely true by drinkypoo · 2016-07-22 23:26 · Score: 1
  
  Employees will know more after Tuesday.
  Ex-employees will know more by Wednesday?
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
10. Re: Not entirely true by swillden · 2016-07-23 01:42 · Score: 1
  
  Posting something about your employer without being anonymous is just plain stupid!
  Depends on your employer. I post stuff about my employer all the time, under a slashdot username that is the same as my corporate LDAP username, and have gotten kudos for it. I've also gotten a couple of calls from legal, asking me to be careful about commenting on legal issues, but the attorneys apologized effusively for doing so, and pointed out that they recognized I was being careful but just want to reiterate that it was important.
  But my employer is particularly open-minded, and particularly confident in its employees' judgement. You need to understand your context, and YMMV.
  
  --
  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
11. Re: Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:43 · Score: 0
  
  Posting something about your employer without being anonymous is just plain stupid!
  Unless you worship your employer and hope that some of their (assumed) credibility transfers to you by association, like swillden.
12. Re: Not entirely true by raph · 2016-07-23 02:59 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, that sounds like a great company to work for. I wish I worked at a place that open-minded.
  Oh, wait :)
  
  --
  LILO boot: linux init=/usr/bin/emacs
13. Re: Not entirely true by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-24 00:38 · Score: 0
  
  You're a wimp: I amputated my boss' legs with a chainsaw, raped his wife and roasted his kids, and fed him their flesh, and requested a pay rise. I got it.
Where's the app apper guy? by sconeu · 2016-07-22 16:20 · Score: 2

For once, he'd be on topic.

--
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
1. Re:Where's the app apper guy? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:26 · Score: 1
  
  For once, he'd be on topic.
  Nothing is stopping you from being him. Just log out first. :)
Relief! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:27 · Score: -1

Glad I use iOS. Android is a train wreck of fragmentation and security holes.
NSA by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:30 · Score: 0

NSA back alley bribe shit
Better idea by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 16:30 · Score: 1

Perhaps the executives and HR department should have been fired. That would have been a far better decision.
Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by knorthern+knight · 2016-07-22 16:46 · Score: 4, Informative

* People were fed up with carrier-crap on their phones
* People were fed up with Google-crap on their phones
* CyanogenMod offered a crap-free phone OS
The "Cyanogen Inc" outfit tried to cash on the popularity of CyanogenMod. But they turned around, sold out, and baked their own crap into the OS. https://techcrunch.com/2016/01... Yes, MS Cortana. If I wanted a smartphone run by MS, I'd buy an MS smartphone already. This was a major betrayal of why people use CyanogenMod. And "Cyanogen Inc" is paying the price.

--

I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
1. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by hawguy · 2016-07-22 16:58 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  * People were fed up with carrier-crap on their phones
  I'm definitely in that camp, I'm sticking with the Nexus, not only do I not have all of the carrier crap, but I also get regular OS updates - my 3 year old Nexus 7 tablet still receives near monthly updates.
  
  * People were fed up with Google-crap on their phones
  Apparently not that many, or Cyanogen would have a market for their OS. Even cyanogen provides a wiki page to tell you how to load Google Apps on your Cyanogenmod device, because "many users find them beneficial to take full advantage of the Android ecosystem."
  https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w...
2. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 17:28 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks Microsoft.
3. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by guacamole · 2016-07-22 18:09 · Score: 2
  
  The BIG difference between the Google apps package for alternative ROMs like CyanogenMod and the Google apps installed on Nexus phones by default, is that under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
4. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by TechyImmigrant · 2016-07-22 18:24 · Score: 1
  
  The BIG difference between the Google apps package for alternative ROMs like CyanogenMod and the Google apps installed on Nexus phones by default, is that under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
  I don't remember that being an issue. However I only used CM for a while to get my flakey Nexus 4 to work with a hack I had to make to get Android to ignore the out of range temp values from the flakey temp sensor. The 5 was great as it came.
  After going Google from the G1 through to the N5, I've gone to the Apply side just to see what's it's like over there.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
5. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 20:07 · Score: 0
  
  I assume when he says "can", he means "can choose to only".
  With Nexus all Google apps are built in, with CM you can choose to not install stuff you don't need.
6. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 20:08 · Score: 1
  
  The BIG difference between the Google apps package for alternative ROMs like CyanogenMod and the Google apps installed on Nexus phones by default, is that under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
  I don't remember that being an issue.....
  It's not an issue. It's an advantage. "you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection" but you don't have to. All the other apps are available in the store, but you don't have to install them if you don't want them. Most phones enforce all sorts of things that you can't remove even if you need the space.
7. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Zumbs · 2016-07-22 20:47 · Score: 2
  
  Even cyanogen provides a wiki page to tell you how to load Google Apps on your Cyanogenmod device, because "many users find them beneficial to take full advantage of the Android ecosystem."
  Many Android app developers only upload their apps to Google Play. It may be possible to find the apps on other app markets, but you have no idea if it is the real deal or crawling with malware.
  
  --
  The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
8. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by thegarbz · 2016-07-22 22:12 · Score: 1
  
  * People were fed up with Google-crap on their phones
  I saw some stats a few years ago on XDA where the developers said that their Google Apps package was downloaded almost as frequently as Cyanogenmod itself.
  People were fed-up with vendor bastardisations on their phone. The carrier crap can mostly be hidden, but buying nice hardware meant sometimes you were stuck with really REALLY shitty software ... like Samsung's Android releases back in the day.
9. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 22:28 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  That's why I use Raccoon (http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon) on a PC to download the application from Play, transfer it to the phone and install manually. No Google crap required.
10. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by alexgieg · 2016-07-22 23:17 · Score: 1
  
  under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
  Not true. Check Delta Gapps With Modular Addons (All DPI). You're welcome.
  
  --
  Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
11. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 00:46 · Score: 0
  
  [...] like Samsung's Android releases even today.
  FTFY
12. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by caseih · 2016-07-23 03:35 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry but your comment doesn't makes sense. All you need is the play store and play services. Everything else is available on the play store itself. Why would you want Hangouts Gmail, Chrome, Drive, etc all bundled with the firmware? Bundled apps get installed in system space and then when the play store updates them in two weeks they go to the non-system part of your phone's memory, meaning all that space used up in /system is just a waste now. Google started moving away from bundling all the apps a long time ago. You just install them now from play store like other apps. That's the way to go.
13. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by TechyImmigrant · 2016-07-23 03:46 · Score: 1
  
  Gotcha.
  I misinterpreted your comment.
  
  --
  I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
14. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 04:35 · Score: 0
  
  There will always be monopoly or fragmentation... pick your poison
  http://www.industrialonline.eu/usa/index.html
15. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by tepples · 2016-07-24 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  Many Android app developers only upload their apps to Google Play.
  Then ask the developers to also upload to Amazon (if proprietary) or F-Droid (if free).
16. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by guacamole · 2016-07-27 01:37 · Score: 1
  
  My comment makes entirely sense. I think you didn't read it carefully, that's why you're saying exactly what I said. I was replying to a statement that says that "google crap" is supposedly good. Not. Check out how many Google apps are pre-installed by default on a typical google Nexus smartphone. Dozens. I mean, literally many dozens. And many of them do cause problems because some apps, even when you never use them, still have services running in the background which wake up your phone and make it drain its battery faster at idle. This was a very serious problem under Android 5 "Lollipop". I did a study to find out why my damn tablet used 25% of battery charge in 24 hours while sleeping, and the top culprits were gmail and hangouts. Ok, I get the gmail thing because I configured it myself, but Hangouts? I don't even use the damn thing.
  Anyways, there is a HUGE benefit to simply be able to install just the play store and then add the apps as you need them.
17. Re:Cyanogen != CyanogenMod by guacamole · 2016-07-27 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  Which part is not true? All I am saying is that there exist micro/pico/mini distributions of opengapps which allow you to install as big gapps collection as you like. There is one of them that allows the play store and that's pretty much it, which should really be the only option.
so not worth a billion dollars now by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 17:27 · Score: 0

should have taken google's offer and ran. idiots. absolutely nothing for them to want now, they were willing to pay a billion fucking dollars to kill the project...... your company is worth a sack of moldy bread now.
Life goes on by guacamole · 2016-07-22 18:01 · Score: 3, Interesting

Cyanogen Inc and its CyanogenMod project is basically the RedHat and Fedora of the Android ROM world. While losing CyanogenMod, in the worst case scenario, is going to be a loss and an annoyance in the short term, other ROM projects will take their place.
Speaking of alternatives, wasn't OmniROM supposed to be an alternative to CyanogenMod? I have had a good experience with older OmniROM ROMs, but their list of supported hardware is very short. Hope it gets better with time.
1. Re:Life goes on by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:30 · Score: 1
  
  It would be nice to see a CyanogenMod-like project, with a company/organization whose sole goal is to make it better. Not make another OS, but to focus on making one ROM that can work well across a lot of devices. Of course, this is something resource intensive, but this is something that should be funded by multiple parties, especially with various governments' fear of backdoors.
  A good example would be going back to a standard of dm-crypt where it would be completely in software, but the user would have the option to use the changed version in newer releases that uses the trusted ARM "world" for key strengthening if they wanted that functionality. Another good example would be having containers or VMs, so one can have their personal phone, their work phone, and maybe a phone for a client all on the device, and none being able to see, much less mess with the others.
2. Re:Life goes on by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:42 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  well, no. For better or for worse, Red Hat actually employs major contributors or otherwise supports upstream development for many desktop/server Linux distribution components. besides the kernel itself, there's glibc, systemd, gcc, and a whole bunch of other shit. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if more Red Hat-funded code in regular Android just from the kernel alone than there is Cyanogen code, and Android doesn't even use glibc or systemd!
  Whereas Android is still overwhelmingly a a Google project, save for externally-developed open-source components that are shared outside of the mobile OS. Such as the kernel, to which Google is also a major contributor.
3. Re:Life goes on by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 20:13 · Score: 0
  
  More like SLS - a neat idea unfortunately corrupted by commercial concerns. We still don't have the Slackware of the AOSP.
4. Re:Life goes on by swb · 2016-07-23 01:30 · Score: 1
  
  I remember rumors a few years ago that VMware was going to make a smartphone hypervisor that would allow for smartphone VM partitioning.
  The downsides would be battery consumption, paltry RAM on smartphones and the fact that you would basically need a major OEM to bake it into the design.
  Of course the unachievable dream would have been iOS and Android VMs on one piece of hardware.
5. Re: Life goes on by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 06:17 · Score: 0
  
  You might be thinking of QNX.
FOSS is dead by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 18:29 · Score: 0

TTIP has measures against 'anticompetitive" products such as open source software, freeware, homegrown vegetables and so on. Anything that could even remotely be an obstacle to Big Money making profits is outright banned and criminalized. You'll find out when it's signed before the end of the year. It's best for those people to be laid off now than being incarcerated later. Find another job, folks, and remember not to antagonize the masters.
Yet Another Company Destroyed by Microsoft Money.. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-22 23:26 · Score: 0

Nice knowing you.
Too bad you drank the Microsoft Cool Aid.
Microsoft Involvement by StormReaver · 2016-07-22 23:54 · Score: 4, Insightful

Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming. Frankly, I'm shocked that people stayed with Cyanogen, Inc. after Microsoft got involved. Once Microsoft puts money into your company, it's time to start looking for a new job while you still have one.
Microsoft has always been the kiss of death, and it still surprises me when people don't see the writing on the wall.
1. Re:Microsoft Involvement by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 05:01 · Score: 0
  
  Not really. A long time ago (20 years?) Microsoft had 20% of the shares of a Portugal Telecom company. Back then they had a portal (www.sapo.pt) and Microsoft demanded that all was migrated to M$ technology (ASP). Back in the day the portal was written in Perl (portal/search engine).
  The lead of the tech team filled his resignation supported by his entire team claiming they would never be able to deliever the same quality of service with Microsoft products. They remained in the company. Apache was hacked to present itself as IIS and then a few symlinks (index.asp -> index.pl) handed the rest. No one was fired.
  Back then, there was unity, nowadays no one really cares if things are doable or not... People only care for nice stuff to add their CV (then they bail out and others are left with the trash), more money and rights... Nowadays engineers suck.
2. Re:Microsoft Involvement by c · 2016-07-23 08:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming. Frankly, I'm shocked that people stayed with Cyanogen, Inc. after Microsoft got involved.
  Before they got involved with Microsoft, they'd already screwed over OnePlus, their first and highest profile CyanogenOS customer. OnePlus immediately turned around and basically demonstrated that they didn't actually need Cyanogen to deliver a decent Android.
  That and the dipshit blathering about putting a bullet through Google's head probably did more damage than Microsoft did.
  
  --
  Log in or piss off.
valued too high by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 00:31 · Score: 0

It is completely absurd that they were valued at $1 billion. There is no way they would ever be worth that much.
What a surprise by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 01:41 · Score: 0

Another company destroyed by Microsoft's putrid touch. Who would have thought.
Good job Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 02:43 · Score: 0

Now Google can hire those android developer for much cheaper price
well that sucks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 03:36 · Score: 0

Always replaced stock android with their when i got a new device. Get rid of the fluff and get control back.
So, Ubuntu next? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 06:36 · Score: 0

Should I start looking for a new distro on my Linux Mint partitions before the inevitable happens?
1. Re: So, Ubuntu next? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-24 00:00 · Score: 0
  
  Switch to LMDE, I suppose. Or man/woman up and use Arch.
2. Re: So, Ubuntu next? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-25 00:21 · Score: 0
  
  Pfft, fucking casuals. LFS or Gentoo if you want a real Linux system. :P
  Captcha: isolate
Google Nexus devices by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 07:16 · Score: 0

My past 3 or 4 phones have all been Google Nexus phones which I have unlocked and rooted. With each and every phone I've looked into installing CyanogenMod to get around the minor hassle of flashing roms and re-rooting every time Google release an update. Every single time I've installed CyanogenMod on a Nexus device, I've been incredibly disappointed. Not a single "stable" release for the Nexus 4 or 5 were in fact stable, with issues like the phone powering off after 5 minutes of inactivity and the phones heating up. When I mention this on the forums, I'm told to install the latest nightly release which I was not interested in doing because I avoiding installing new updates constantly was the initial reason why I looked into CyanogenMod in the first place.
why ? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 07:49 · Score: 0

Why would anyone offer or invest serious money into what was/is just a re-skin of android ?
You needed a rooted device for cm,so anything cm could do,it
could be achieved in other ways...
All cm did was to give more settings and options but the same end result could be achieved using other roms and apps/modules..
I eventually tried cm for 6 months on a nexus 7 lte,and still couldn't see what all the fuss was about...
OxygenOS - excellent alternative from Oppo's OnePl by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 07:57 · Score: 0

Although, they won't be able to rely upon Cyanogen's company development any more, only the community work or forks.
Re: After the knife ... OxygenOS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 08:00 · Score: 0

OxygenOS could be the best fork now, although it benefited from Cyanogen's now fired dev team.
The post-layoff layoffs will come soon enough... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 08:52 · Score: 0

>> So, everyone who arrived at Cyanogen Inc. in Seattle this morning did so to lose their job (aside from those conducting the layoffs).
Once the paperwork clears and the dust settles, the ones who conducted the layoffs will themselves be subject to layoffs. WHY? They're not needed anymore. They performed the job they were needed for and now they are excess baggage. No need to hire more people for a while either.
Eric Schmidt Pentagon/Google by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-23 09:00 · Score: 0

Came in and worked them. Too bad they are dead meat anyway.
Just buy the cheapest possible Android for phone only and turn your phone into a FreeBSD device.
http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
arm packages available, way better than Android.
I just bought a Wileyfox. It's my fault by qIroS · 2016-07-23 09:19 · Score: 1

So, just bought the Wileyfox Storm handset, which 'prides' itself on running Cyanogen OS. Was hoping to keep it current for 2 or 3 years. Guess it's stuck with what it's got right now then. Anything you want killing, just get me to buy it first.
Not a shock, but a sad day nonetheless by Shirley+Marquez · 2016-07-24 04:27 · Score: 1

CyanogenMod only had one notable OEM win: OnePlus. And then they left the fold to do their own OS. So it's not surprising that Cyanogen has concluded that there isn't any business there. But it's bad news for people with older phones that aren't getting updates from their makers.
Hercules InColor Card by tepples · 2016-07-24 09:23 · Score: 1

In addition to the MDA-with-graphics Hercules Graphics Card (HGC), Hercules also made a CGA clone called the Hercules Color Card designed to coexist with the HGC. I don't know if it's compatible enough to run the 8088 MPH demo. This was followed by a 16-of-64-color card comparable to EGA, called the Hercules InColor Card. But you're correct that no well-known Hercules card could do 256 explicit colors.
A genuine tough guy by Anonymous Coward · 2016-07-24 23:47 · Score: 0

Overreact much, chickenshit anonymous poster?
Wow, a tough guy on slashdot. You don't see that every day.