
Firefox OS 1.3 - reirob
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Releases/1.3
======
ghoul2
Does anyone know which is the cheapest phone that can be hacked to run Firefox
OS? As in, is there a port to any of the , for example, the chinese Mediatek
SoC-based phones - some of those sell for less than $50, retail. Vast majority
sell for less than ~$100. They usually come with Android ICS/JB, but if even
one of them has been hacked to run FFOS, i'd sure like to give it a try.

~~~
leeoniya
conversely, are there any expensive phones that can run it yet? i would love
to try it on my rooted HTC Jewel (Sprint EVO 4G LTE). currently running
CyanogenMod nightlies.

~~~
reirob
Geeksphone just made the Revolution [1] that can run FFOS and/or Android.

Also according to Mozilla there are several Nexus phones that can run FFOS [2]

[1]
[http://shop.geeksphone.com/es/moviles/9-revolution.html](http://shop.geeksphone.com/es/moviles/9-revolution.html)

[2] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/Firefox_OS/Phones#Firefo...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/Firefox_OS/Phones#Firefox_OS_phones_available)

~~~
leeoniya
i guess i was more interested to know which phones has it been ported to. i
understand that technically it can run on every phone that currently runs
android since the linux layer is identical.

~~~
zz1
It doesn't: [https://autonome.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/firefox-os-
devices...](https://autonome.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/firefox-os-devices-and-
dark-matter/)

------
Pacabel
Is there anything particularly remarkable about this release? The release
notes make it sound like it really offers nothing more than some bug fixes,
and very minor new functionality.

~~~
fabrice_d
This page lists changes that are useful to apps developers, so mostly new
features in the web runtime itself.

New features in apps and some other big changes (like the use of async panning
and zooming in the graphics stack) are not covered in this document.

I guess we'll have more user-oriented release notes soon.

------
zurn
It will be a sign of things to come to see how many releases are supported on
the first-generation Firefox OS phone that I have (ZTE Open). This doesn't
mention it, and a quick Googling doesn't show any positive signs... anyone
know?

~~~
zz1
I am quite sure that backwards compatibility won't be an issue. As you may
know Firefox OS is aimed at low-end phones, so I don't think they plan on
ending support for first generation phones… ever?. The only issue is the
manufacturer, which has to take care for the Firmware updates for his own
handsets. ZTE doesn't look very eager to give its users constant updates.

~~~
pjmlp
So no different from any other mobile OS OEMs.

------
sleepyhead
CardDav should be #1 priority. If I can't sync my contacts what use is a phone
with FirefoxOS?

~~~
duiker101
#1 [https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia](https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia)
feel free to work on it. Any contribution will be appreciated.

2# this is not marketed as a substitute to iPhone or even Android. It's mean
for people that can't afford high end phones. People that if the choice is a
$25 phone without contacts sync or a $100 phone with sync they will take the
former.

3# A lot of people are working hard on this project improving it every day.
Dismissing it like that for a quite minor thing, yes minor, seems quite
childish to me.

~~~
Pacabel
When a potential user expresses a very legitimate desire for some missing
functionality, it leaves a very bad impression when that user is then told to
add the functionality himself or herself.

It also doesn't help to refer to that very legitimate feature request as
"childish", especially when it involves core functionality that's very
critical to many users.

~~~
pjmlp
And one wonders themselves why GNU/Linux never got to the average joe/jane
desktop.

~~~
rbanffy
GNU/Linux was never aimed at average people - it exists to solve some problems
average people just don't have.

~~~
pjmlp
Funny, I use computers for almost 30 years now and that is how it was being
sold since the early days.

As the alternative to the evil empire of corporations for all types of users,
including average people.

~~~
rbanffy
It's been usable by the average user for a long time now, but first the
average user needs to get it. Average users usually need a lot of help to
obtain operating systems that are not sold in boxes or that don't come
preinstalled. That and the selection of compatible hardware, which has not
always been easy. Luckily, most hardware makers are a little better at
building compatible computers these days. Worst: average users have a lot to
unlearn.

My mom (she's 78) is on Linux since 2006 or so. Moved from Windows to Mac and
then to Linux. Never had an issue.

The key is what the user expects. If you approach Linux wanting a seamless
transition from Windows, you'll be frustrated. Everything makes sense, but
it's different. Your software won't run. If you approach Linux without
expecting it to be like Windows, you'll be happy. The average user
overestimates how much they know about computing and bring their own baggage.
That baggage holds them down. They want to download Nero to burn a CD. They
want to download Firefox from the firefox.org website. The whole idea of a
package manager is completely alien to the average user (or was, until the
advent of the app store).

~~~
pjmlp
Sorry but this looks like a copy paste comment from around 1995, funny how
some things never change.

------
cromwellian
Did ES6 spec get approved, I thought it was still a draft spec? Why are ES6
features exposed by default and not behind a flag?

~~~
Benvie
The ES6 spec draft is in its final stages of being revised. At this point
there shouldn't be any substantial developer-facing changes except to a few
final things that are being ironed out (mainly modules).

The features that are being shipped in Firefox are ones that are stable in the
draft spec and not expected to change. At the point of spec stability, these
features need to be actually tested in broader distribution to help find any
potential compatibility corner cases, similar to the issues found with
Array.prototype.values [1].

[1] [http://www.esdiscuss.org/topic/array-prototype-values-
breaks...](http://www.esdiscuss.org/topic/array-prototype-values-breaks-the-
web)

~~~
cromwellian
I agree with it in principle, but this isn't the first time FF has dropped in
Javascript features which are still not finalized. I just think that if other
browser vendors are going to be raked over the coals for not rigidly adhering
to standards processes and shipping non-approved features not behind flags,
everyone should be held to the same standard, a consistent policy.

~~~
jgon
If the other vendors weren't, respectively, the largest, second largest, and
third largest tech companies in the world, and amongst the most valuable
companies in the world this comparison would make sense. If, of the other
three browser makers, we weren't discussing a company that holds a near
monopoly on desktop OS's, a company that holds a near monopoly on the high-end
of computing, and the third which holds a near monopoly on internet services
this comparison would again make sense.

Should Mozilla have been more conservative in shipping features that are
actually written up in a spec on their fledgling OS? Probably, playing
strictly by the rules is generally a good thing. Is this comparable to a
different vendor working to ship an enormous feature which didn't even have a
spec, and which the person at the centre of the controversy asked other people
to help write because they had been so busy? No, not at all.

Size, influence, and power always make a difference. I have a hard time
understanding how you wouldn't see this.

~~~
cromwellian
Like the Geneva Conventions, they protect both big and small players, in times
of war, as long as everyone agrees to abide by them. The big players, as you
indicate, could really do a lot more, unimpeded, but have shown relative
restraint and participated voluntarily these standards committees. I don't
think granting a waiver for one particular vendor is conducive to influencing
others to play by the rules.

What's the lesson? Two wrongs make a right?

------
gojomo
Is it possible to try out FirefoxOS as an app on another smartphone?

~~~
cpeterso
If you just want to see what it looks like, you can install the Firefox OS
Simulator, an add-on for desktop Firefox:

[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Tools/Firefox_OS_Si...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Tools/Firefox_OS_Simulator)

------
nroose
iOS, Android, Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS... Seems like perhaps a lot of
people are trying to get VC funding on the back of iOS success, no?

~~~
pekk
A lot of people are trying to make something which gives more freedom to users
than iOS.

~~~
Pacabel
This already exists, in the form of Android. Is it ideologically perfect?
Maybe not, but it's more than good enough for most people. Android is widely
adopted, it's available on many different devices, users can install their own
apps from a variety of sources, and there's a fair amount of freedom for
developers to choose how to implement and distribute their apps.

~~~
Argorak
2 is a low number for a global market.

------
rubiquity
"New Array methods have been implemented: Array.prototype.keys"

Dafuq.

Yes I'm aware how Arrays are just objects in JS but please stop bastardizing
the Array data type even further. This is also part of ES6 so I don't blame
Mozilla for implementing it.

~~~
Benvie
All iterable objects (Arrays, Strings, TypedArrays, Maps, and Sets) come with
the same set of iterator-creating methods (keys, values, entries).

~~~
mnemonik
This is the most important point; it is totally consistent.

