Patents were made to ensure that in exchange for making information public, the inventor would get temporary exclusivity. The purpose was to get information that would have been held as a trade secret, or in past ages by trade guilds, and potentially lost. Now, of course, patents are useless as they rarely describe HOW to make the item in question, and are instead a vague concept grab and used not to protect the inventor but as clubs to beat others down with.
Copyright is similar, though it was meant to give creators some incentive to create.
If people are going to continue to claim property rights, they should pay a property tax.
They don't claim property rights. They confuse the issue with the poor phrase "intellectual property" even though it isn't.
Divulged knowledge is public property, exclusive privileges over it should come with a cost.
They do come with a cost. Eventually they will lose the exclusive privilege to the information. The problems lie around the laws that make up copyright and patents.
The tech industry is basically building up the greatest case ever to be made for why patents, software patents especially, have transitioned away from their original intention and become far more a hindrance and obstruction rather than a means of getting useful knowledge out from closed circles.
it always involves somebody else making sacrifices
Not really. People who hold copyrights are not entitled to them, they are granted them by an Act of Congress. Resolving these problems in a way that is most beneficial for people (not the corporations pushing these laws) is only proper.
Microsoft requires all drivers for x64 versions of Vista and W7 pass WHQL and be signed by them. If they decide to enforce eavesdropping in the audio path, they can force hardware vendors to supply it or deny them a signature.
Mobile phones are devices, not exactly what I see as a platform to install a different OS on.
But nonetheless they are. Not everyone will do it, but then, few people install different OSes on the computers they have.
Android is the future, iOS a good second (will be second due to it's restriction to Apple devices), WP7 may survive thanks to the deep pockets of Microsoft, but for the rest... well... what rest?
Well, since two out of three would be happy to see Free Software, open systems, and open source in general die, it looks bad. And Android is a weak form of open source that isn't really all that helpful except to Google.
To some degree. The drivers tend to be messes that don't ever end up in the upstream kernel so they rot as the kernel moves on. Then you have the problem of graphics drivers existing in userspace, which leaves you in a lurch with things like MeeGo that use glibc and your only graphics library is compiled against Android's Bionic.
That's a tricky statement, since iOS both does and does not support it. Most applications will simply continue to be killed outright. Anything that supports "multitasking" will be working through GCD, which requires Apple approval to use.
Does it actually support it at that level, or does it (as I've heard) do the Android thing and just halt the application while in the background?
And MS has embraced unlocking/jail-breaking as well, which will enable side-loading apps.
They have not. They are "rekindling" ChevronWP7, though how it will differ from before is up in the air. Certainly, it will not be like Android where you can freely sideload apps. First, it'll cost money. Then I imagine you will have to manually sign and upload software, possibly even compile and package them, as this is supposed to be a tool for developers. A hair better than Apple, still behind default Android and MeeGo.
My point is that he's a tool. He isn't supposed to think for himself, or do what 's best for his company. He's doing what's best to drive his company into a weak position so that they are dependent on Microsoft. His reaction here is to undermine the notion that Nokia could actually exist without the Microsoft dependency.
let's be honest here - nerds who think UI peaked in the 70s loved it, and while I know there are dozens of you, that's not gonna sustain a technology market.
And people who insist that the WP7 UI is somehow superior (despite the fact that you'll constantly be scrolling to read text that hangs off the screen) aren't either. There's nothing SPECIAL about the WP7 UI, similar things could be implemented on other platforms.
Or perhaps you can show me how exactly what we've seen falls apart?
it would be nice if there was a little official support so that developers can concentrate on writing "apps" and less time fixing bugs and implementing features Nokia should be handling themselves.
The stock software on the device is a mix of the old Maemo understructure and a proprietary upper layer (the part that integrates all the social media services) that the community can't do anything with themselves.
Before long I expect MeeGo (as in, MeeGo Community Edition) to be up and running with full functionality on the device, which should be nice and fully functional by the time Nokia decides to give up the ghost completely.
At least, not any more than Elop has hurt it already. If anything, this mad scramble and poor demo was his immediate reaction to interfere with and disrupt the positive press that built around the N9 and Harmattan. It had such a good immediate demo and favorable reviews that people were quickly looking at Elop as a complete fool, instead of the mere tool that he is.
Because it's the only commonly available follow up to the N900. After that it's only devices running WP7 from Nokia, at which point I will cease ever being a customer.
Ah yes, Arjan and his hissy fit. I'd care more if there were anything else on the market other than the terrible tablets that have been out for months that got poor reviews (WeTab, exoPC.)
MeeGo is just a name and they wouldn't be able to call it that if it wasn't actually legally MeeGo.
Nokia could. The prevailing theory is that they were granted an exception due to the fact that nothing else is on the market with the MeeGo name. It is legally MeeGo, mostly out of necessity and not at any technical level (no oFono, no RPM, etc.)
They only produce devkits, not consumer-grade hardware. Sad, but that's the state of things. If they were then Intel might have more people interested in their end of this.
Well, this is Maemo. It depends on what you're after, though. I imagine the Maemo 5 UI will be ported to the N9 (Harmattan) eventually, and it's already running on MeeGo. There are no locks on these devices either, like there weren't any on the N900.
not anymore a computer with phone capabilties, is definately a phone now
Nah. I don't like the loss of the keyboard but that's no lesser than the N800, which didn't include a keyboard either but was very much a pocket computer. This still retains all the hallmarks of the N900, we'll just have to get creative for the input.
I had heard just this week from someone on the project that meego had been killed just a few weeks before the beta date, so seeing this announcement was confusing. Maybe these two phones were too far along in production to kill outright. It will be amusing to see if they turn out to be much better overall than WP7.
The N950, as a consumer model, was killed some time back. This device is likely just a continuation of said same project with a different form factor (it was killed due to the hinge, which the carriers did not like.)
Instead they're trying to be general purpose computers in your hand.
On the contrary, with all other platforms out there they are trying to be like game consoles. With tight vendor control and development restricted to those approved by the platform owner, they get to control everything that goes in and out of the system. They then try to reinforce this by making something up about "ecosystems" and how the only way a phone can be good is if it's inextricably linked to one offered (for a fee) by the platform owner.
Hell, it would be a scream if there was a way to install Meego on Android phones and jailbroken iPhones, too.
Totally possible. You can make good progress with a 2.6.35 kernel, albeit sans hardware acceleration for video. If it runs Android, it can run MeeGo as well.
The N9 and N950 are not running MeeGo, but the previously in development Harmattan, which is a continuation of the Maemo line. All of the Qt APIs in use by MeeGo as of MeeGo 1.2 are available on the platform, however, and efforts are already underway to ensure that the Community Edition of MeeGo (which is a pure MeeGo platform) is available on the N9.
The N950, sadly, will only be available in limited quantities to commercial/professional developers, with roughly 250 to be handed out to open source developers in the community. Notably, the N950 doesn't have NFC so it can't be used to develop or test NFC applications.
The N9 both is and is not an upgrade to my N900. It's lack of a hardware keyboard, lack of an SD card slot, and capacitive screen are negatives, while the faster and slightly revised omap3630 processor and 1GB of RAM are definite upsides. Additionally, most major European countries plus the US are likely going to be delayed (hopefully just delayed) for the N9 release as Nokia seems to be prioritizing them for WP7.
I will probably get one, as a minor upgrade. Hopefully the price will be reasonable.
Poulsbo is simply the same problem that every ARM device with a PowerVR graphics core has. The company refuses to release sources for the userspace driver, the kernel space stubs are not in the mainline, and they absolutely don't work with end-users.
But try Hw accelerated video playback, 3D drivers, etc
Working on MeeGo makes me all too keenly aware of that mess. None of it really applies to the kernel though, since all interesting bits are in userspace. And the graphics core IP vendors (Qualcomm most notably) have already been refused entry into the kernel because of this.
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Patents were made to ensure that in exchange for making information public, the inventor would get temporary exclusivity. The purpose was to get information that would have been held as a trade secret, or in past ages by trade guilds, and potentially lost. Now, of course, patents are useless as they rarely describe HOW to make the item in question, and are instead a vague concept grab and used not to protect the inventor but as clubs to beat others down with.
Copyright is similar, though it was meant to give creators some incentive to create.
They don't claim property rights. They confuse the issue with the poor phrase "intellectual property" even though it isn't.
They do come with a cost. Eventually they will lose the exclusive privilege to the information. The problems lie around the laws that make up copyright and patents.
The tech industry is basically building up the greatest case ever to be made for why patents, software patents especially, have transitioned away from their original intention and become far more a hindrance and obstruction rather than a means of getting useful knowledge out from closed circles.
Not really. People who hold copyrights are not entitled to them, they are granted them by an Act of Congress. Resolving these problems in a way that is most beneficial for people (not the corporations pushing these laws) is only proper.
Rubber hoses only work if you have the person with the key in custody.
Microsoft requires all drivers for x64 versions of Vista and W7 pass WHQL and be signed by them. If they decide to enforce eavesdropping in the audio path, they can force hardware vendors to supply it or deny them a signature.
But nonetheless they are. Not everyone will do it, but then, few people install different OSes on the computers they have.
Well, since two out of three would be happy to see Free Software, open systems, and open source in general die, it looks bad. And Android is a weak form of open source that isn't really all that helpful except to Google.
To some degree. The drivers tend to be messes that don't ever end up in the upstream kernel so they rot as the kernel moves on. Then you have the problem of graphics drivers existing in userspace, which leaves you in a lurch with things like MeeGo that use glibc and your only graphics library is compiled against Android's Bionic.
That's a tricky statement, since iOS both does and does not support it. Most applications will simply continue to be killed outright. Anything that supports "multitasking" will be working through GCD, which requires Apple approval to use.
Does it actually support it at that level, or does it (as I've heard) do the Android thing and just halt the application while in the background?
They have not. They are "rekindling" ChevronWP7, though how it will differ from before is up in the air. Certainly, it will not be like Android where you can freely sideload apps. First, it'll cost money. Then I imagine you will have to manually sign and upload software, possibly even compile and package them, as this is supposed to be a tool for developers. A hair better than Apple, still behind default Android and MeeGo.
I think you mean "runs on" as it is already booting on most ARM platforms to some degree.
The biggest hindrance to complete operation these days seems to be limited to graphics drivers.
My point is that he's a tool. He isn't supposed to think for himself, or do what 's best for his company. He's doing what's best to drive his company into a weak position so that they are dependent on Microsoft. His reaction here is to undermine the notion that Nokia could actually exist without the Microsoft dependency.
He is a tool, wielded by Microsoft.
And people who insist that the WP7 UI is somehow superior (despite the fact that you'll constantly be scrolling to read text that hangs off the screen) aren't either. There's nothing SPECIAL about the WP7 UI, similar things could be implemented on other platforms.
Or perhaps you can show me how exactly what we've seen falls apart?
The stock software on the device is a mix of the old Maemo understructure and a proprietary upper layer (the part that integrates all the social media services) that the community can't do anything with themselves.
Before long I expect MeeGo (as in, MeeGo Community Edition) to be up and running with full functionality on the device, which should be nice and fully functional by the time Nokia decides to give up the ghost completely.
At least, not any more than Elop has hurt it already. If anything, this mad scramble and poor demo was his immediate reaction to interfere with and disrupt the positive press that built around the N9 and Harmattan. It had such a good immediate demo and favorable reviews that people were quickly looking at Elop as a complete fool, instead of the mere tool that he is.
Because it's the only commonly available follow up to the N900. After that it's only devices running WP7 from Nokia, at which point I will cease ever being a customer.
At least now we know the exact terms of the deal.
Ah yes, Arjan and his hissy fit. I'd care more if there were anything else on the market other than the terrible tablets that have been out for months that got poor reviews (WeTab, exoPC.)
Nokia could. The prevailing theory is that they were granted an exception due to the fact that nothing else is on the market with the MeeGo name. It is legally MeeGo, mostly out of necessity and not at any technical level (no oFono, no RPM, etc.)
They only produce devkits, not consumer-grade hardware. Sad, but that's the state of things. If they were then Intel might have more people interested in their end of this.
Did once already for my N900, likely will again for this one.
Well, this is Maemo. It depends on what you're after, though. I imagine the Maemo 5 UI will be ported to the N9 (Harmattan) eventually, and it's already running on MeeGo. There are no locks on these devices either, like there weren't any on the N900.
Nah. I don't like the loss of the keyboard but that's no lesser than the N800, which didn't include a keyboard either but was very much a pocket computer. This still retains all the hallmarks of the N900, we'll just have to get creative for the input.
The N950, as a consumer model, was killed some time back. This device is likely just a continuation of said same project with a different form factor (it was killed due to the hinge, which the carriers did not like.)
On the contrary, with all other platforms out there they are trying to be like game consoles. With tight vendor control and development restricted to those approved by the platform owner, they get to control everything that goes in and out of the system. They then try to reinforce this by making something up about "ecosystems" and how the only way a phone can be good is if it's inextricably linked to one offered (for a fee) by the platform owner.
Hell, it would be a scream if there was a way to install Meego on Android phones and jailbroken iPhones, too.
Totally possible. You can make good progress with a 2.6.35 kernel, albeit sans hardware acceleration for video. If it runs Android, it can run MeeGo as well.
The N9 and N950 are not running MeeGo, but the previously in development Harmattan, which is a continuation of the Maemo line. All of the Qt APIs in use by MeeGo as of MeeGo 1.2 are available on the platform, however, and efforts are already underway to ensure that the Community Edition of MeeGo (which is a pure MeeGo platform) is available on the N9.
The N950, sadly, will only be available in limited quantities to commercial/professional developers, with roughly 250 to be handed out to open source developers in the community. Notably, the N950 doesn't have NFC so it can't be used to develop or test NFC applications.
The N9 both is and is not an upgrade to my N900. It's lack of a hardware keyboard, lack of an SD card slot, and capacitive screen are negatives, while the faster and slightly revised omap3630 processor and 1GB of RAM are definite upsides. Additionally, most major European countries plus the US are likely going to be delayed (hopefully just delayed) for the N9 release as Nokia seems to be prioritizing them for WP7.
I will probably get one, as a minor upgrade. Hopefully the price will be reasonable.
Poulsbo is simply the same problem that every ARM device with a PowerVR graphics core has. The company refuses to release sources for the userspace driver, the kernel space stubs are not in the mainline, and they absolutely don't work with end-users.
Working on MeeGo makes me all too keenly aware of that mess. None of it really applies to the kernel though, since all interesting bits are in userspace. And the graphics core IP vendors (Qualcomm most notably) have already been refused entry into the kernel because of this.