
Schrödinger's Firefox OS - bpierre
http://elioqoshi.me/en/2016/01/schrodingers-firefox-os/
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hardwaresofton
There's no Schrödinger about it, FFOS is alive. (that's kind of a tl;dr for
the article itself, but good article so I recommend the read)

I actually think FFOS is an amazing choice for connected devices, and I really
want to use it on an IoT project (of course, that project is stuck behind at
least 3 others, one of which is an app for FFOS).

To expand on why I think it's an amazing choice:

\- As FOSS as you can get, with mobile OSes

\- Easy to reason about architecture

\- Will evolve with the web (as well as the web's capabilities)

\- Galaxy-level ecosystem for HTML/CSS/JS

~~~
Cyberdog
> There's no Schrödinger about it, FFOS is alive.

Is it, though? It's pivoting from being an OS for mobile phones, which is
something that billions of people use and understand, to being an OS for
"internet of things" devices, which are… uh… internet-connected thermostats
and refrigerators and stuff? I guess?

But even if smart fridges are really going to become a thing, are we not not
anticipating Firefox OS not facing the same challenges it did in the phone
market? That is, if I'm gonna make a smart fridge, why would I choose FFOS
over Android, especially since devs for the latter are far more common?

~~~
hardwaresofton
Obviously, I'm incredibly biased, but I think it's reasonable to see the shift
as applying FFOS to a different thing. The OS they've created is flexible
enough to go on a completely different device, where as I don't think android
belongs many places outside of phones and tablets.

I think that flexibility is what lets them avoid calling this a failed
project, and more of a pivot. By the way, FFOS hasn't become any LESS of a
phone OS just because they're focusing on applying it to IoT stuff -- It still
runs great, and you can flash it to a lot of flagship phones without any
problems.

The best thing about FFOS is that it doesn't require buy in to some closed
platform. Your connected fridge apps and your connected microwave apps are
just going to be webapps, which take advantage of an in-browser (knowing the
devs at mozilla, most likely well documented, open an reasonable) API.

While I definitely don't know what manufacturers actually go through (I'm not
one), I might choose FFOS over android because of ease of app creation, lack
of having to deal with Google, and more thoroughly open OS. If I want to spin
my own version of gaia (the frontend for FFOS), it's incredibly easy (and of
course, styling HTML/CSS, and adding some JS is in my opinion, easier than
dealing with the Android ecosystem)

~~~
epoch1970
> The OS they've created is flexible enough to go on a completely different
> device, where as I don't think android belongs many places outside of phones
> and tablets.

I'm confused by this claim.

Doesn't Firefox OS use the Linux kernel, like Android does?

Doesn't Firefox OS incorporate part of the Android HAL into Gonk?

And how does Gecko really differ that much from Blink in this scenario?

I find it strange to think that Android isn't suitable for this use, but
somehow Firefox OS is, although they're so similar.

~~~
digi_owl
Actually FFOS uses everything Android that is below the Java VM.

I think recently there was an apk released that allows you to try out the UI
part of FFOS as an Android launcher.

~~~
hardwaresofton
Yes:

[https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/os/2.5/](https://www.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/os/2.5/)

2.5 allows you to download an Android app and try out FirefoxOS

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transfire
I bought my sister a $50 Firefox phone for Christmas. She's never heard of it,
of course. But she loves it!

Why did Mozilla give up so quickly? Did they really expect to take the market
by storm overnight? I don't get it.

~~~
746F7475
Just guessing, but maybe they saw what has happened to Windows Phone market
shares. Sure there are people who absolutely love their Windows Phones to
bits, but it's not really gaining momentum to be a serious threat to Android
or iOS, which means less and less developers are willing to put in the effort
to create apps for their platform.

Now think of Firefox OS, it's even younger and even less mature than Windows
Phone with no real benefit for your average users. I doubt I could sell a
Firefox OS to a normal user on the street

~~~
SunboX
Windows Phone market share depends on context. In Germany it's very close to
iOS market share (and getting closer). No one would say iOS has failed in
Germany, so you can't say Windows Phone has failed either.

~~~
746F7475
So are there just bunch of well made German apps that are doing well or why do
you think it's not spread to other countries?

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oliao
Here you can clearly see how the 'we'-culture is misused by the 'top' of
Mozilla to shuffle off responsibility: there's nobody to rebel against.

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mavdi
Mozilla hires Vladislav Surkov?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcy8uLjRHPM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcy8uLjRHPM)

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smithkl42
Mozilla is a company which can fire their CEO for believing what all of
humanity believed until last Tuesday, and then call it a victory for
"diversity". I can't say I'm surprised to discover that they have trouble
communicating clearly.

