
Boot2Gecko demo & quick hack - there
http://paulrouget.com/e/b2ghack/
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programminggeek
I like the idea of Boot2Gecko, but it's 100% pointless as a project. We had a
shot to have a pure web based OS with webOS, and absent awesome hardware and
marketing nobody bought it. Mozilla building their own Firefox version of
webOS is not going to make this kind of thing successful.

Great devices are a marriage of hardware and software. Focus too much on one
at the peril of the other.

Shipping an OS to basically closed hardware devices - phones is a much
different ballgame than shipping a web browser app on a preinstalled operating
system and with Android already being both free and popular and open source, I
don't know why any hardware maker would use Boot2Gecko.

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mcot2
I actually started to write a response to this post about how WebOS and this
project seem totally different in terms of the companies involved and being
open source from the start, but then I thought more about it...

This project doesn't really feel like mozilla is trying to compete with
Android or iOS in terms of developing a traditional mobile operating system.

It almost feels like mozilla is trying to lay down the ground work for what a
web based mobile device SHOULD be. The entire UI using web technologies,
JavaScript API's for everything. Think about that for a second... What users
think about as the "OS" (basically the home skin, application launcher,
widgets, themes and UI controls) is just an infinitely hackable web project
for any company to come along and build on top of. Gecko or Webkit + Linux
under the hood and thats it.

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robot
IMHO the underlying technology has no significance. People still write native
iOS apps even though HTML5 is available. Nobody will say oh they used
javascript and web for every thing I must use/develop for this phone.

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denysonique
I predict that HTML5 + JavaScript is the future of desktop and mobile apps.

This is probably the most widely known technology to people. Apart from
Boot2Gecko you can develop HTML/JS apps for Windows Phone and Windows 8 (metro
style)

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yobbobandana
One thing I hope this promotes is a good interface for accessing device
hardware via HTML. In particular i had a hard time trying to access a webcam
feed to embed in a webpage when i tried it a while ago. The ability to simply
capture images/audio/video for use in a web app, from your phone or your
webcam, would be tremendously fun.

As far as i'm aware the current solution for this is still to use Flash, or a
native application. I'd be happy to be wrong. In any case making a phone
entirely controllable via web standards will ensure that such capabilities are
avilable and proven.

If anyone has more info on webcam integration with HTML5 video, this
stackoverflow post could use some love:
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1318834/whats-the-
status-...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1318834/whats-the-status-of-
the-html-5-video-tag-and-webcam-integration)

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mcot2
This is going to be great. Should be far easier than Objective-C, Java and
whatever Windows Phone 7 uses for simple apps.

I'm still not totally convinced about large code bases being developed in JS
but I would say that MOST iOS and Android apps don't need "programming in the
large" features. But, I could also see some kind of compile-to-javascript
language like CoffeeScript making this easier.

I hope this stays up to date with the now fast moving Gecko for Desktop so it
has the latest and greatest HTML/CSS/JS features as they get implemented.

Another concern would be: Where does mozilla stand with hardware manufacturers
and cell carriers? I feel that this isn't going to gain much traction if
someone has to buy an Android device and then hack it. Windows Phone 7 has
proven that even if you have the hardware, you still need Verizon and AT&T (in
the U.S) on your side as well.

~~~
jlongster
Several carries are already interested, and Telefonica has already partnered
up with Mozilla to create a real phone in the next year.

~~~
yobbobandana
Telefonica press release for those who missed it:

[http://saladeprensa.telefonica.com/jsp/base.jsp?contenido=/j...](http://saladeprensa.telefonica.com/jsp/base.jsp?contenido=/jsp/notasdeprensa/notadetalle.jsp&selectNumReg=5&pagina=1&id=66&origen=notapres&idm=eng&pais=1&elem=17874)

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digdugdirk
I'm in love with this project. Any news on a timeline for a usable(ish)
release?

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ngokevin
I believe Mozilla is releasing a beta to Brazil soon, and will do a large
release around September 2012.

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geuis
Most definitely can research this on my own, but I'm curious if its possible
to run this on iPhone hardware? i.e. replace the native OS?

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daa
I don't know that anyone's tried that yet. Boot2Gecko is focusing on making a
real phone that people will really be able to buy, so working on a platform
that requires "fighting the manufacturer" isn't a priority. But it's open
source, so it's always possible that someone could take on what's likely a
huge task! Currently B2G works on a couple of models, and requires Android
ICS:
[https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla/Boot_to_Gecko/B2G_b...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla/Boot_to_Gecko/B2G_build_prerequisites)

~~~
geuis
Thanks for the info. Bit beyond me, attempting that. But definitely interested
in trying it if someone pulls it together.

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regularfry
...and now I'm wondering if it'll run on an RPi.

