
Why Codeworkx ceased Development of CyanogenMod 10 for the Galaxy S3 - akandiah
http://www.androidnext.de/schwerpunkt/codeworkx-cyanogenmod-interview-english/
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jackalope
This article highlights one of my frustrations with Android as a platform. As
a longtime Linux user, I couldn't wait to get an Android smartphone. For some
reason, I thought I would enjoy the same freedoms on a familiar and secure
platform. But I shortly discovered that Google reinvented the wheel (poorly)
for _everything_ , manufacturers went to great lengths to lock down devices,
and carriers blocked security and version updates _even when the manufacturer
had released them in other markets_. The Android I had to endure for the last
two years looked nothing like the Linux I used on my desktop and servers; it
was more reminiscent of Windows 95. So, in an ironic twist, I replaced it with
a Lumia 920 running Windows Phone 8 this past December. It isn't Linux either,
but it excels as a smartphone and the UI is fantastic (I much prefer live
tiles over icons littering a desktop). When I use it, I get the sense that
Microsoft paid close attention to the things users hate about Android and iOS.
If they can resist feature creep and retain their focus on simplicity and
security, they might have a real contender. It's too bad Google didn't exert
more control over the user experience in Android and allowed manufacturers and
carriers to create such a mess that exists today.

~~~
lucian1900
Sadly, only Nexus devices are actually good. And I mean _really_ good. I
absolutely love my Nexus 4.

~~~
w1ntermute
Have you used the Galaxy S3? You can root/unlock it and install CM. I'd say
that's better than a Nexus 4, especially if you have LTE.

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ajross
You seem not to have read the linked article, which is about one of the CM
developers dumping work on one of the GS3 (there are a bunch of different
phones labeled with the same name) devices because of unsolvable problems and
poor support from Samsung.

Seriously: Buy. A. Nexus. Phone. Almost everything else is going to bite you.

~~~
calciphus
Interestingly, I have a GS3 as well and have no problems with the things the
developer is mentioning here.

The article is 3 months old. In that time, CM10 hit stable release for all US
carriers (and international, IIRC) and is honestly rock-solid. All those
"unsolvable" issues were solved. I'd recommend it without hesitation to every
GS3 owner.

10.1 is buggy/crash-prone, admittedly, but the team's only been working on it
for a few weeks. Bluetooth and Wifi tethering work solidly, some of the newer
Google Apps (like Gallery and Photosphere) are a little hacky. Touch to focus
works great.

Every issue Codeworkx cites as his frustrations with the S3 have been resolved
by the great folks at the CM/TeamHacksung. The article is a non-issue.

~~~
ajross
I'm willing to bet that you have a US market "GS3". That's a Qualcom
Snapdragon S4 phone, not Exynos (seriously: it's an _entirely different set of
electronics_ in the same box). It works much better largely because it shares
the same SoC as the Nexus 4.

And yet, in comparison with it's cousin the N4, it's not nearly as well
supported or trouble free. Buy. A. Nexus. Phone.

~~~
UnFleshedOne
Nexus 4 has one major flaw -- you can't tell people to buy a phone that is not
on the market. :) I can wait until my n900 breaks down (which won't happen any
time soon, that thing is built like a rock), but N4 would be so much better if
it was, you know, there.

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gregsq
I tend to agree with this. Samsung made a big event of declaring their support
for developers of Exynos devices, but have stayed quiet and slow in showing
that they meant it. The Mali GPU is one area where access is still locked down
to a binary blob, and it doesn't look as if that will change.

The GPU is accessible under license to ARM partners according to ARM, though
I've not seen it, and I think it's not Samsung's to give away unilaterally.
There's competitive advantage issues involved no doubt, including the fact
that Imagination GPU design, just down the M1 motorway from ARM, and used in
the OMAP5, are locked down as well.

The Exynos 5 dual core is a great device, but as in so much to do with ARM
licenses, the peripherals are the work of the licensee. Texas Instruments use
dual Cortex-m4's along with A15's in the OMAP5 which is a very capable
approach when combined with good peripherals.

I can see why Samsung would be cautious, but I do think they've been
misleading in promising more than they could deliver. So far it just looks
like a fork of Android Jellybean.

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paolovictor
The title is a little misleading, it led me to believe that it was about
Android app developers, not custom distro developers.

That being said, I'm a bit thorn on this. From the developer side, Samsung
seem a bit too prickly, specially when Android is touted as an "open"
platform. On Samsung's side, it has no obligation whatsoever to provide all
the data and source when asked.

~~~
hellerbarde
Obligation, no. But they seem to have "promised" devices and support for the
CM dev team (I may have misunderstood that though.). They got the devices, but
not the support. So i think it's fair enough of that guy to call them out on
it. Don't promise things you won't keep. At least not to people that you want
to keep around. (Whyever they would care about CM...)

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dancsi
In fact, as far as I understood, they do have an obligation, because the (GPL
licensed) kernel requires them to release source code for some parts of the
system

~~~
dagw
They've released the stuff their obliged to release under the GPL, that's not
the problem. However they also promised to release more, and now apparently
have no intention on following up on that promise.

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akandiah
Here's the beginning of a detailed 10-part post on the topic:
[https://plus.google.com/u/0/101093310520661581786/posts/ZgBQ...](https://plus.google.com/u/0/101093310520661581786/posts/ZgBQuZNzMZL)

Links to the other parts are contained in each post.

~~~
dancsi
I agree, this is a great overview of the current and past events

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Zigurd
Before blaming OEMs, look to Google for leadership, or lack of it, in
supporting Android as an open system by encouraging open drivers and
documented peripherals.

Google has wielded the "Anti-fragmentation Agreement" as a whip to keep
Android OEMs from straying into temptations like Aliyun. Surely a bit of love
for AOSP-based Android distributions that grow the system integration talent
pool are within the scope of not being evil.

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buster
I just hope that Motorola+Google will be a rolemodel in the future in this
regard. The Google Nexus devices have been very good to go for modding. Now
Motorola needs to do that as well. They could even make us of the modding
scene to provide regular updates instead of what is currently the case with
every manufacturer for non-Nexus devices.

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nicholassmith
I wonder if this might end up as a trend towards the 'leaders' on the Android
scene moving away from the Samsung stable to another manufacturer, and if so
will that lead to the community following? Samsung is doing fantastically well
at the moment so it doesn't make sense for them to start picking up a bad
reputation for not playing ball.

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skrebbel
Is this a linkbait title or do I misundertand things? The article is about how
Samsung does not _actively_ support Cyanogenmod. Translating that to "screwing
over Android developers" is like saying that Nintendo screws over Linux
developers by not making it easy to install Linux on a Wii.

~~~
megablast
Except Samsung promised they would work with developers, whereas Nintendo did
no such thing.

Samsung is becoming very big and powerful, and seems to be acting very
different than they have in the past, just like other big companies such as
Apple, Microsoft, Google.

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matthiasb
I understand his frustration. I can only imagine he spent many hours fighting
to get his distro to work with his S3 and he now realized he has to give up.
It's never a good feeling!

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jstalin
A reason to support upcoming Ubuntu phone distro?

~~~
Dirlewanger
Ubuntu phones are DOA. Whatever they promise us now will not be what potential
customers expect from a smartphone in six months, let alone a year+. The
mobile market changes at such an insane rate. They have an incredible amount
of ground to cover, deals to make, and markets to enter if they expect to get
any ROI at all.

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joezydeco
_"Qualcomm + TI = good chances for AOSP..."_

Um, isn't TI exiting the phone market?

~~~
gregsq
That's partly it. TI is letting the OMAP5 out into the embedded market, where
it has a lot more strength, through SOM partners like Phytec. This could look
to some as a possible future subversion tactic.

~~~
joezydeco
Strength? Sure. Volume? No.

The only hope for OMAP in the open-source/AOSP world is if maybe Amazon picks
it up. Or, as a longshot, maybe someone making automotive systems (although
Freescale is doing better there).

If Qualcomm or Broadcom happens to want it, um, I wouldn't hold out for any
new releases.

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ryanmacg
It's extra bizarre when you consider that Daniel still seems to be (based on
his G+) developing for the S3

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muyuu
He said he planned to switch to the Xperia T, but I guess he will want to
leave something at least workable for the S3 before that.

EDIT: not sure about the current state of things, seems that this is a
translation from an interview that happened several months ago, which explains
why the Xperia T wasn't out yet.

~~~
ryanmacg
Yeah, I've kept a close eye on this since I own an S3 and run CM and he's
definitely still working on it from what I've seen. That might be related to
Samsung saying they'd be more open going forward though

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gcb0
In this thread: everyone complains about carriers lock in and then proceed to
play angry birds on their $0.99 phones locked into 2yr contract.

damn you all to hell.

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JohnFromBuffalo
Samsung makes Android phones?

~~~
dwrowe
Yes, with heavily customized UIs. Rather distinct from the standard Android
experience. Personally, I find it annoying, and it doesn't add that much value
for me. I liken it to the bloatware installed on Windows machines in the past.

