

Firefox Operating System: Finally Launched at Mobile Congress 2013 - technogist
http://www.technogist.com/2013/03/firefox-operating-system-launched.html

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nzonbi
I wonder what kind of future expect the late entrants FirefoxOS and Ubuntu. I
wish success for both. The challenge is big. They lack the momentum and big
pockets of established rivals, Apple, Google and Microsoft. But there are some
interesting factors that would be in their favor.

First are the apps. As for Ubuntu, developers love Linux. That would help to
get apps ported. Plus Ubuntu have the recently introduced webapps integration,
that provides unity integration for selected webapps. I expect that they will
improve this feature, and include more apps. Then there is the choice of QT as
the UI toolkit. This is a good choice, because QT is proven and has a big
community of developers.

Meanwhile FirefoxOS relies on the traditional web platform, a popular and
accessible environment for developers, that is currently improving relatively
fast. The web, enhanced with the mobile APIs that Mozilla is working on, is
probably enough for almost all productivity apps. And with webGL, it is
becoming good for decent gaming. Web development has the advantage of being
portable across platforms. That lower costs. And it is relatively easier and
cheaper to find developers for it. These are facts that should not be ignored.

So both Ubuntu and FirefoxOS, are offering an attractive development
proposition. From a pure development standpoint, I much rather prefer both
Ubuntu and FirefoxOS alternatives, than Android Java or Apple objetiveC.

There is a strategical factor: Android device manufacturers fear Google. It is
the most powerful web company in the world, controls Android, and also owns
Motorola. So it competes with device manufacturers. That is too much power.
And who knows if it decides to become like Apple at some point. So device
manufactures, should be open to examine alternatives, as a countermeasure
against Google excessive power. Both Ubuntu and Mozilla are solid software
companies, that seems unthinkable to become device manufactures.

As for windows, I can imagine device manufactures waking up from nightmares,
screaming at midnight. Dreaming about a mobile world dominated by Microsoft,
where they would have to pay a big fee for each windows license, out of their
thin margins. It is also relevant the interest of big third-parties. Big
players like Facebook and Amazon, would feel more comfortable, if their apps
were running on OSs not property of their rivals, Google, Apple and Microsoft.
Where these could implement strategies, to undermine the former.

Linux as a gaming platform is on the rise. Steam, the Ouya, Nvidia project
shield, etc. There are more incentives to consider games for Linux. Making
porting to Ubuntu mobile easier and more enticing. And webGL appears poised
for a brilliant future. So both FirefoxOS and Ubuntu could be good gaming
platforms.

I hope that with the help of these factors, they at least can establish a
sustainable presence on the market, and are able to build from there. I would
be happier with a world where open OSs are present on the mobile market.

~~~
mtgx
I could see Ubuntu become the main alternative to Android for manufacturers,
because Canonical will make it easy to piggyback on Android drivers, so it
should be very easy for manufacturers to port Ubuntu to their devices. It also
gives them at least as good customization power as Android, and the
hacking/ROM community are going to love it, which I think is a good way to get
people excited about a device/OS online these days.

WP8 doesn't give them any of that, it's been stagnating at 2% for more than 2
years and a half, and besides perhaps helping Nokia a bit (while being a much
smaller company than they used to be, so easier to be "satisfied" with it),
there's nobody really benefitting from supporting it in terms of sales. So
Ubuntu would be a great WP8 replacement there, and as a strong customizable
alternative to Android.

As for Firefox OS, I guess it depends on how well this ChromeOS/FF OS thing
will work. And if it does, it probably only works on the low-end, at least for
the next 5-10 years, when data will be so cheap, that using web apps won't be
a problem anymore (although you can still use "native" web apps in FF OS, just
like in Ubuntu Touch, so I guess there's that, too).

But since FF OS is going to be used mostly on low-end devices, that means it
could be on a lot of devices as well, so it could do well in terms of market
share (or at least well enough to give a company like Mozilla good revenues).
For the same reason, I don't really see FF OS and Ubuntu competing with each
other, since Ubuntu will be more on devices with at least a quad core A9/A53
or dual core A15/A57.

The only way they are competing with each other is manufacturer's attention.
Some of them may not be ready to take on more than 2 operating systems at
once, and if they have already committed to FF OS, then it might take stronger
persuasion to start supporting Ubuntu as well, to have an alternative for
high-end Android devices.

Android will continue to compete with both, at the low-end and at the high-
end, although I think Google needs to make Android 5.0 a little leaner to put
it back into the Gingerbread-range of resources needed, if they want Android
to go hard into the sub-$50 phone market.

~~~
cpeterso
Firefox OS uses the Android kernel, so it benefits from Android drivers, too.

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arj
I'm looking forward to a more open development model, than the "dump here is
the latest code" model Google seems to be using.

~~~
cpeterso
Patches accepted! :) <https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/>

The Gaia repo contains the JS application frameworks and system apps. The Gon
repo is the Android-based kernel and userspace. I believe the name Gonk refers
to the small rectangular robots from Star Wars.

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mapleoin
_Firefox OS devices will be first opened to the markets of the following
countries: Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,
Spain and Venezuela._

Wow this is the first global company I've seen opening up first to countries
outside Western Europe + US/Canada. I wonder what the motivation for that is.

~~~
hexagonc
Spain is in Western Europe

~~~
diegocg
Telefónica, the main spanish telco company, is one of the Firefox OS partners.

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Noughmad
> In this article, we will talk about the new operating system made by
> Firefox.

Seriously? You really shouldn't put such blunders in bold. Not on a site named
"technologist".

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programminggeek
I guess it's good that Firefox is doing this, but kind of like the Ubuntu
mobile project, I just don't think it's going to make much of a dent.

Consumers don't care about technology ideology. Native vs web, NOBODY CARES!

Consumers want their apps. They want to play games. They want instagram. They
want beautiful hardware and lots of accessories.

The only place in major markets where a Firefox OS stands a chance is low cost
prepaid like Virgin Mobile USA, Straight Talk, etc. but there are enough good
android options and even iPhone now, that it might be too late.

Maybe it could take off in some other countries, but I don't see Firefox OS
taking off like the original Firefox did.

~~~
Supermighty
> Consumers don't care about technology ideology. Native vs web, NOBODY CARES!

You are absolutely correct. And when they sell these for $50 a pop in Africa,
South East Asia and Brazil people will be happy they didn't have to buy the
$600 iPhone or Android.

These devices aren't even schedules to arrive in the US till mid to late 2014.
And by the time they do they may have a strong enough foothold with developers
and existing websites to have leverage with the US carriers.

~~~
CJefferson
Why would you think a firefoxOS device is going to end up cheaper than
Android, when both OSes are open source and linux based?

~~~
callahad
As I understand it, Gecko has significantly lighter resource demands compared
to Dalvik. Andy Rubin himself, speaking on FirefoxOS, has said that there are
simply places where Android cannot go.

Cite: "There are places where Android can’t go," [Rubin] said, referring to
memory and other hardware requirements. Firefox can help reach those. "For
certain markets, it makes sense." [[http://allthingsd.com/20130226/googles-
andy-rubin-on-firefox...](http://allthingsd.com/20130226/googles-andy-rubin-
on-firefox-os-in-general-i-feel-friendly/)]

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Jolandatsv
Really? I was starting to think this would be the "Duke Nukem Forever" of
operating systems.

~~~
jadyoyster
I don't know how you could seriously say[0] that.

[0] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox_OS#History>

