

Firefox OS Building Blocks find a new home, and get more streamlined - blueveek
https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/07/firefox-os-building-blocks-find-a-new-home-and-get-more-streamlined/

======
garysweaver
> We wanted to know if it was possible to use Building Blocks not only for its
> main purpose, that’s creating phone applications, but also as a base to
> create a standard web site.

While I've known that the "phone" has been the primary target so far of FF OS,
but still I'm a little sad that I'm reading it.

iOS and Android are built for tablets as well as phones. iOS is going to be
expanding by allowing more devices to connect in their next version. When I
first heard about FF OS, I thought: "Awesome! Now I can start writing HTML5
apps for my phone, my tablet, my desktop, etc." But, then I found out that the
goal was just to be a phone. I not only spend a lot more of my day on a
laptop/desktop than a phone, but I'd like to live in a future where the
software can be written once for desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, "watch", car,
or other device, and new hardware can easily be integrated with it (such as a
keyboard, printer, car electronics/computer, stereo, etc.).

I think it is awesome that FF OS apps will be easier to develop, but I wish
there was something fun to develop in HTML5 and JS that I couldn't do already
in Android or iOS. To do this, FF OS has to stop being afraid to really dig
into Gonk and make it as easily extensible on the hardware side as it is to
develop and share HTML5 apps in FF OS.

~~~
rnyman
There are definitely visions and plans to be more than phones. Did you ever
see this announcement? - [http://blog.mozilla.org/ligong/2013/06/03/foxconn-
joins-the-...](http://blog.mozilla.org/ligong/2013/06/03/foxconn-joins-the-
firefox-os-eco-system/)

Edit: Disclaimer, I work for Mozilla

~~~
garysweaver
Awesome! Looking forward to being able to use FF OS on my laptop!

------
bobbles
Has there been any progess towards being able to dual-boot OS on a phone? It
would be great if you could run stock android on say a Nexus 4, but boot into
other OS's to try them out

------
bitsoda
For those wanting to take FF OS for a spin, load up Firefox and search the
add-ons directory for "Firefox OS Simulator".

------
jdc
I haven't been following Firefox OS that closely, but one question comes to
mind: why didn't Mozilla fork Palm's excellent WebOS?

~~~
S201
One reason is that Firefox OS uses the Android kernel. This means that Mozilla
doesn't have to beg device manufacturers for hardware support. If a device
runs Android, it should be able to run Firefox OS with little software
modification. Another reason is that Firefox OS uses Gecko as the UI. So the
two major components, the kernel and userland are taken care of; there is no
benefit from forking WebOS.

~~~
garysweaver
> One reason is that Firefox OS uses the Android kernel.

It uses parts of Android in HAL, but Gonk isn't Android.

