Related
I just thought I'd start this thread to ask other developers about their opinion on the matter.
I spent many hours across several weeks reverse engineering the Samsung Galaxy S flashing protocol and then programming, testing and distributing Heimdall as open-source software.
Based on bandwidth consumption Heimdall has been downloaded anywhere between 2000 and 8000 times (depending on whether the source or binaries were downloaded). I have received no more than eight donations, a very sincere thank-you goes out to those eight people! Let's assume that 25% of the total number of downloads were repeat downloaders, so we have somewhere between 1500 and 6000 unique users. So only 0.134-0.534% of users actually donate. Those sorts of donation rates are barely able to cover the cost of bandwidth, if at all.
I know there are a lot of people out there who consider themselves avid supporters of open-source and open-source software. I wouldn't necessarily call myself one of those people, however I do believe there is definitely a time and a place for open-source software, Heimdall being a perfect example.
I also know a lot of people who distribute ROMs, apps, tools, mods etc. are hobbyists who do what they do in their spare time, and the community should be very thankful of that. As for myself, I work as a independent software/games developer, not particularly the most monetarily rewarding profession around.
As much as we do enjoy releasing free software for the community, it is difficult for developers such as myself to justify the work involved when there is little to no return, after all the bills need to be paid somehow.
My question is this, is it possible for developers releasing open-source software directly to the community, not large corporations, to make a living off their work? Furthermore, how do we encourage community members to give back to developers who have donated their time to the community?
Can't you use Google Code instead for hosting? or SourceForge? all provide free bandwidth IIRC.
Don't expect any donations as a rule, if you are expecting profit then either use ads on your website or charge.
I would have thought the primary reason for developing OSS on your phone is to improve the product you originally bought.
Cheers,
MiG
If you want free hosting, I can hook you up at http://www.sgscompilebox.dreamhosters.com/ that I'm paying for anyway for z4mod. Unlimited bandwidth/space. Offer goes out to anybody who wants to host anything for the SGS.
EDIT: Oh, and to answer your question: No, I don't believe it's possible to make a living off making 3rd party open source tools that only a fraction(technical users) of a device's users will use. If you want to make a living off open source, the best bet is through a company such as Canonical, or by creating applications focused at casual users with as much potential marketshare as possible. Or do what most people do: get a regular 'closed' job, and do open source stuff as a hobby.
MiG- said:
Can't you use Google Code instead for hosting? or SourceForge? all provide free bandwidth IIRC.
Don't expect any donations as a rule, if you are expecting profit then either use ads on your website or charge.
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I don't think you fully understand what I'm trying to discuss. The bandwidth costs are fairly negligible, especially if I'm approximately able to cover the costs with just eight donations. A developers time however is substantially more expensive, and in some ways the effort and intention is priceless
I'm not expecting profit as such, nor do I particularly wish this discussion to center around myself (I'm just using my statistics as an example). I'm just curious to know whether people think it is possible to be a "sustainable" open-source developer who contributes software directly to a community? As opposed to large open-source products targeted towards large corporations who pay technical support contracts.
I'm also not a big fan off stuffing ads down the throat of my user-base. Also, in this particular context I seriously doubt that sort of approach would work, especially if third-party free hosting (sourceforge, github etc.) is used.
MiG- said:
I would have thought the primary reason for developing OSS on your phone is to improve the product you originally bought.
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Not necessarily. In my particular case I've simply released a tool to further enable the community to do something that other users (myself included) could already do, in some capacity or another.
For most developers releasing open-source software isn't so much about improving something they own. It's more about providing something for a community to use and benefit from without constraints. It's not unreasonable to ask the community to support you in return. After all there is nothing that forces developers to ever release the software they develop, unless you've used GPL code which is another matter entirely.
MiG-, based on your answer I'm assuming you're saying, no you do not think it's possible, which is definitely a perfectly valid answer to questions I've asked. Although I would definitely love to hear what more community members, particularly developers, have to say about the topic.
RyanZA said:
If you want free hosting, I can hook you up at http://www.sgscompilebox.dreamhosters.com/ that I'm paying for anyway for z4mod. Unlimited bandwidth/space. Offer goes out to anybody who wants to host anything for the SGS.
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Bit of topic.. you can host roms?
DocRambone said:
Bit of topic.. you can host roms?
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Until someone stops me, sure.
RyanZA said:
EDIT: Oh, and to answer your question: No, I don't believe it's possible to make a living off making 3rd party open source tools that only a fraction(technical users) of a device's users will use. If you want to make a living off open source, the best bet is through a company such as Canonical, or by creating applications focused at casual users with as much potential marketshare as possible. Or do what most people do: get a regular 'closed' job, and do open source stuff as a hobby.
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I agree with pretty much everything except the part about targeting casual users in order to make money. In my experience technically inclined users, who have an appreciation for a piece of software, are substantially more likely to donate that casual users who lack the knowledge of the work involved. Of course selling software is something that can be more easily achieved when targeting a casual user base, especially if they know nothing of piracy. However it is generally not possible to sell "open-source" software directly.
Benjamin Dobell said:
I agree with pretty much everything except the part about targeting casual users in order to make money. In my experience technically inclined users, who have an appreciation for a piece of software, are substantially more likely to donate that casual users who lack the knowledge of the work involved. Of course selling software is something that can be more easily achieved when targeting a casual user base, especially if they know nothing of piracy. However it is generally not possible to sell "open-source" software directly.
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Of course it is. Why do you think all of these app stores and market place etc is all catching on? You're never going to get rich off it, but putting up a popular open source application with an advert (and the option to turn it off even) should be able to bring in a pretty good revenue! Social networking seems to do the best for these types of apps.
Also, you'd probably want to diversify if relying on ad money - one banner ad in 25 open source apps, with 100K users each could easily reach a lot of money. And it should be possible to crank out a simple, well made open source app that serves a definite purpose in under 3 months. So with some time investment, in a couple years you'd be able to live off it. No different from closed sourced apps when you you use advertising.
Most important thing though is to make something that
1) the average user understands what it does
2) does the job as simply as possible
3) actually helps the user
4) has as wide a potential market as possible
You could look at firefox as the ultimate in this type of thing.
This is all a lot of work though, I'm sure, and if you're after money, a regular desk job is almost guaranteed to work out better.
RyanZA said:
Of course it is. Why do you think all of these app stores and market place etc is all catching on? You're never going to get rich off it, but putting up a popular open source application with an advert (and the option to turn it off even) should be able to bring in a pretty good revenue! Social networking seems to do the best for these types of apps.
Also, you'd probably want to diversify if relying on ad money - one banner ad in 25 open source apps, with 100K users each could easily reach a lot of money. And it should be possible to crank out a simple, well made open source app that serves a definite purpose in under 3 months. So with some time investment, in a couple years you'd be able to live off it. No different from closed sourced apps when you you use advertising.
Most important thing though is to make something that
1) the average user understands what it does
2) does the job as simply as possible
3) actually helps the user
4) has as wide a potential market as possible
You could look at firefox as the ultimate in this type of thing.
This is all a lot of work though, I'm sure, and if you're after money, a regular desk job is almost guaranteed to work out better.
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Agreed, I mostly meant that it's difficult to "sell" open-source software. If your software is truly open-source then users are likely to download it, compile it and then redistribute it for free, which is sort of reasonable given that it's meant to be open source.
However advertising in a free application is slightly different than selling an application and it does have a lot more potential to succeed. However depending on what you mean by "putting up a popular open source application" I might have moral issues with that. Unless the popular application is your own or you've substantially modified (added a UI etc) to an existing piece of open-source software. Although a lot less likely to happen if your app is free, if it is open-source there is still the chance someone else will distribute it for free, unless of course the non-code assets aren't open.
I definitely do believe that at the moment it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to live off the type of open-source software I initially described. It's a bit saddening though to realise how massively one falls short, hopefully this will change in the future.
About those donations. If I would use it, I would probably donate.
I worked my a** of for the community, providing ROMs and kitchens for 3 years for the HTC S710 and S740 and I got about 4 or 5 donations over that period of time. Sometimes it get's very frustrating, but hang in there, it's worth it after all (there would be no WM 6.5 on the Vox or the Rose without me (dare I say that ), but I wanted it anyway, so I made it and just released it for others as well)!
PS: SAP r3 is open source and it sells veeeeeery good
I think the community can recognize such invaluable work & devote a part of their donations to them, if they are using his software & really think its worth.
I think however small percentage it could be, it would make the developer feel wanted & make him continue devoting his valuable time.
I just read an article either today or yesterday regarding a conference of software developers for android community, & when one developer went to the podium & said he is earning a steady $1-$2 per day, people actually laughed. He retorted, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. Android hasn't penetrated the markets YET like iPhone. So awareness & earnings are still low.
BTW, a nice GUI would change everything.
Just my 2 cents worth.
PS : In continuation to RyanZA's talk, I would like to mention that if you think you have something worth using, MAKE A LOT of noise about it. THAT's how people notice, use & donate. No one can understand a software's worth until you tell them. Like some WWii prime minister said, if you want the world to understand what you are telling, tell it like you are telling a donkey.
Ben, I think you need to differentiate between recognition, fame & money. Ideas are many have you tried http://www.ideaken.com/ ?
Benjamin Dobell said:
Agreed, I mostly meant that it's difficult to "sell" open-source software. If your software is truly open-source then users are likely to download it, compile it and then redistribute it for free, which is sort of reasonable given that it's meant to be open source.
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Most companies "built on open-source" provide binaries, and real support for those binaries, and earn a living from that. In an enterprise environment giving support can earn a lot of money (mainly because a lot of companies have policies to only use software/hardware that has decent support). On my last job we had to use a really crappy software, just because the (really) good alternative didn't had a support center in our country.
For the casual users: the marketplaces + ads are a good place to start. If you manage to create something that casual users will use, then it might pay of. Those users don't actaully care about the software being FOSS or not. Actually there aren't many people who care how free an application really is (except for most people working in IT or similar)
If bandwidth is an issue then host it over megaupload and such, problem solved.
ragin said:
BTW, a nice GUI would change everything.
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And give users the ability to think they are actually a power user. Most people here at xda can't write even simple scripts, but they do want to try out new and experimental stuff. (on the other hand there are a lot of users who want things that just work, for them give a simple gui saying: "DO DA STUFF")
EarlZ said:
If bandwidth is an issue then host it over megaupload and such, problem solved.
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I hate when people upload source code to megaupload. There's github, code.google.com and sf.net. sf.net is although quite old now, the other too are still great when it comes to hosting FOSS stuff.
Github is even nicer since they've added a big "Download" button for the end users.
Has anyone tried it yet, what was the outcome?
Is it possible?
Please share your ideas, views and suggestions here.
I think i read somewhere about it, but the project is not continue, unfortunatelly :/
search, maybe you'll find something
Hey Abhishek...
Why do you need to create another thread...??
There are two ongoing threads on the same topic... And if you are interested please head on to those to find out the info about porting android on bada..
Dont create unnecessary threads.... I suggest delete this... or after sometime all we will see in the Bada Section is useless threads....
*facepalm*
Read other topics WWW.ANDROIDPORT.NEt there is the wavedroid project.
Go away and come back when you have some progress for us wavedroid.
Still wondering if wavedroid is a money making exercise or a genuine attempt at getting Android over. The delays don't help the impression this is an exercise being led by folks more eager than actually having the skills to accomplish the task.
I'll be the first to eat my hat if this ever comes to fruition, but I won't be donating anything to something that at this point seems to have only updates on various delays.
Hows this for an interesting post on the JetDroid website...
Not sure why you need the expensive software, it is nice and would help but 95% of the works is already completed for you guys.
To start:
Look for phones with same hardware then use that parts from their android and put the parts into a custom version. You can reuse the /sbin and /system folders from the android sdk virtual machine or if you want better performance use the /sbin and /system of a similar hardware phone android version and just add your init , init.rc , zimage and package this into a rom or dual boot like we do.
CPU:
The wave / Samsung-Intrinsity S5PC110 cpu is much more supported than our s3c6410 and used even by Apple so look at idroid , samsung crespo , HTC 4G android , samsung i9000 for sources for your android files to start from.
Screen:
The screen is possibly the same as S8000 or Spica, wave 3.3" the rest is in other samsung opensource files you just need to mix and match parts.
Obstacles:
The biggest problem might be the cpu and screen + andreno or powervx or Mali display driver but android.so will work until you get to the video driver.
Camera:
Camera is in M910 samsung opensource files / other 5MP camera, there is only a few 5MP camera from that samsung uses so might need to work on the code if you can not find it from a same camera android phone version that is already working.
Now make a good WaveDroid version:
Once you have all this and have it working then you can build a clean custom version of android optmized for your phone. CM for HTC 4G phones might work with almost no or little changes possibly just in the kernel.
The samsung opensource website has the SCH-W850 / SPH-W8500 / SPH-W8550 , this could share some hardware with Samsung Wave as well, similar number codes. Look for a recent code release nov/dec 2010 or later.
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After reading that, I felt I could almost make an android port myself lol. Clearly there are some very knowledgeable and experienced persons out there.
What really bugs me is the Wavedroid folks have been asking for money for months, yet have shown not a shred of proof they have accomplished anything. Secondly, folks have been asking (rightfully so), why you have not implemented a Paypal widget so people can see just how much money you have raised so far. I know you are using illegal software and thus don't want to let everyone into your inner circle to see the progress, but you have shown and proved absolutely nothing. There are more doubts than positive feelings at the moment.
Please don't let this thread grow to one of two-three pages which is worth nothing, there is already another one just for this purpose
Android port is stuck because programmers dont have any programm to edit the bootloader of wave,so they can not do the port...
If anyone knows any free programm to edit ARM 7 files (like IDA 5.7) please give it to them.
But if nobody knows any programm for this case the have to wait until they have enough money form donations to buy the IDA 5.7
(sorry for my english)
This is outrageous, the fact that you need commercial tools to do what your looking to do clearly denotes your level of incompetence. Look at idroid. i didnt see them asking people for money to buy tools?? And i would say that Apple did a much better job locking down the i range then samsung did with the Wave. If you have stumbled at the starting block just forfeit the race.
Prove to us that you know what the f**k your doing and then you can have your donations.
Generally i supported this project, but then you asked for money. Money changes everything.
sabianadmin said:
This is outrageous, the fact that you need commercial tools to do what your looking to do clearly denotes your level of incompetence. Look at idroid. i didnt see them asking people for money to buy tools?? And i would say that Apple did a much better job locking down the i range then samsung did with the Wave. If you have stumbled at the starting block just forfeit the race.
Prove to us that you know what the f**k your doing and then you can have your donations.
Generally i supported this project, but then you asked for money. Money changes everything.
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I agree with U
Asking for money, without providing any scrap of proof that anything is even going on, is what irks people here. Not even a simply paypal donation widget exists so folks can see what the $ count is too.
Too many red flags on this one. I know I'm not the first to ask for proof, or even just something other than "we are working it, it'll be done soooooon, give us all your moneys roflwtflolbbq"
So many other android ports happened without need for this software. And also may I point out what seems total ineptitude on the wavedroid team's part. The Galaxy S contains pretty much the identical hardware as the Wave does. In fact you find me a phone that has identical hardware, one running android, the other something else, and tell me we already have as near an android phone as you're going to get. Compared to other port projects, this should have been done in a weekend to be honest.
wavedroid are bogus, and will accomplish nothing just like all the so called Android to Wave projects and groups previously.
I agree with sabian. I don't know a **** about how difficult or easy is this, but i'm pretty sure that there are good developers around here. Why couldn't you start a new project?
I aggre with you guys,it is very odd that they ask for money without doing anythink...
I just posted that if you know any free software that works with ARM7 files it would be good to inform then...
But they have a very good reason to ask for money because if they can not edit the bootloader they can not load anythink else from bada...if they do that the project it would be almost done because wave and galaxy s have similar hardware so with some fixes to scripts they will have a very good androidport to wave..
To whom it may concern...
After this announcement from Sony Ericsson...
In developer forums worldwide, there is a huge activity and engagement in the open Android™ ecosystem. And we also know there are a lot of independent developers out there who are creating their own custom ROMs or modifying the kernel. The Sony Ericsson Developer program is following this community with great interest, and even though Sony Ericsson is not supporting all the activities by independent developers, we recognize that custom ROMs are a part of the Android ecosystem.
We therefore decided to assist a group of developers called “FreeXperia”. The overall open developer community is important to Sony Ericsson, and we hope to learn from it, and share knowledge ourselves. The FreeXperia group was supported with devices and technical know-how, and they are now in the process of creating custom ROMs based on the CyanogenMod for several of our latest Xperia™ phones, including Xperia™ PLAY and Xperia™ arc.
Karl-Johan Dahlström, Head of Developer Relations, explains more after the jump.
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- Sony Ericsson supports independent developers
...could this be an opportunity for XDA to contact the big names such as S.E, HTC, Samsung etc to see if it would be possible to work with them in one way or another because lets face it, the greatest developers in the World are here at XDA. One thought that sprung to mind was that they would be able to donate handsets for the Recognized Developers here to work with, or maybe release Special Edition Roms for XDA members that give built in options for things like Rooting and Boot Loader unlocking, CyanogenMod, etc etc etc.
Those are things most Android users want as standard from what I've seen in the Arc & X10 forum, and given how much better the Devs here at XDA can make a device, in the interests of progression for the Mobile industry in general it could be a revolutionary step.
Interesting Thought, but this announcement probably won't mean that Sony will be partnering with XDA tomorrow.
There is a lot of legal, and corporate bull to weed through. Are the owners of XDA doing something like this? IMHO more than likely, but we won't know about it until its final and ready to happen.
Would like to see more companies jump on board with similar things.
First of all, don't confuse S-E's attempt to get some free PR to prop up their flagging sales, with a genuine interest at working together with hobby-developers.
Secondly, you're sorely mistaken if, as skillful as the devs here are, you really think that "the greatest developers in the world are at XDA" or that they can ever replace the professional coders and programmers that make the ROMs for HTC, Samsung, et al.
There's a big difference between the ROMs that hobby-developers produce for enthusiasts here on XDA, enthusiasts who are willing to live with occasional FCs and performance issues, and the ROMS that go into devices that have to approved and used by hundreds of carriers.
Don't forget that when developers from XDA occasionally pull something off that the manufacturers either couldn't or wouldn't do, it's because they use tricks and methods that could never be accepted on a production-ROM.
(For example: use of ext3 or ext4 file systems, cache2SD and many others)
vszulc said:
First of all, don't confuse S-E's attempt to get some free PR to prop up their flagging sales, with a genuine interest at working together with hobby-developers.
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Well they've made the statement so time will tell I guess, but it wouldn't hurt to make contact and see.
vszulc said:
Secondly, you're sorely mistaken if, as skillful as the devs here are, you really think that "the greatest developers in the world are at XDA" or that they can ever replace the professional coders and programmers that make the ROMs for HTC, Samsung, et al.
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Really? Perhaps I put too much weight in to the skills of the true devs here then.
vszulc said:
There's a big difference between the ROMs that hobby-developers produce for enthusiasts here on XDA, enthusiasts who are willing to live with occasional FCs and performance issues, and the ROMS that go into devices that have to approved and used by hundreds of carriers.
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No doubt, but that's the point, most people join XDA for a reason, mine was to debrand and change as much of the stock FW as possible regardless of the risks, and I'd prefer the manufacturers to be a little more interested in what I want rather than what the carriers assume I want. I've only had the Xperia X10 and now the Xperia Arc while I've been a member here, and having seen how far the FreeXperia team has come, and having just read this...
Well apparently the hard work and passion shown by the dedicated FreeXperia team caught the attention of Sony Ericsson. They have worked hard to assist the team in making a CyanogenMod custom ROM for the Xperia range of smartphones. Sony Ericsson has given around 20 handsets to the team and even provided “debugged and rebuilt camera library binaries”. These libraries will made available to all under a special EULA license shortly to further assist developers.
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- Xperia Blog
...it could be good times ahead for Xperia users and another reason for trying to come up with something that would benefit us all.
vszulc said:
Don't forget that when developers from XDA occasionally pull something off that the manufacturers either couldn't or wouldn't do, it's because they use tricks and methods that could never be accepted on a production-ROM.
(For example: use of ext3 or ext4 file systems, cache2SD and many others)
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This is why I mentioned Special Edition type Roms, which could just be released on XDA for example, or at least release source code for whatever which helps to unlock the true potential of our devices. Maybe I also put too much weight in XDA's presence in the mobile World.
JimmyMcGee said:
Interesting Thought, but this announcement probably won't mean that Sony will be partnering with XDA tomorrow.
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And wouldn't expect them to, but think it would be the perfect time to grasp an opportunity for reasons already mentioned.
Source
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1925709
AntonLiv92 said:
ManCityFC wrote a pretty good statement on the Exynos topic in the CM10 thread. Let's spread this around the Samsung Facebook pages until we get some sources! :good:
Originally posted by ManCityFC
On behalf of the ever-growing Android development community, could you please release full documentation for the Galaxy S3 Exynos chip and full source code for everything relating to it?
As you know, developers are the lifeblood of the Android ecosystem and are generally the people that are developing the most exciting and innovative applications for users. This is being put in jeopardy by Samsung's denial of this crucial information – and is now having a self-defeating effect and forcing these brilliant developers to lose faith in Android. This will ultimately see them developing for other platforms, or not at all. It is crucial that we help these developers understand the most contemporary phone architectures, so they can continue to develop great applications and firmwares for the wider community. I don’t need to tell you how the developer Steve Kondik has managed to develop the Android platform….as you hired him!!
Samsung has generally been at the forefront of mobile/cellular phone innovation and has usually allowed access to this type of non-sensitive information, so other co-innovators can continue to develop for the wider community. There appears to be an arrogance creeping in, and dare I say a slightly bullish attitude that Samsung is now bigger than the customers that are buying your products.
We know you understand the size of the Android community, in fact you also use this community yourself to unofficially beta test your own internal updates and firmware versions, so please, repay the community by releasing this none-sensitive information.
The Samsung Android community are a loyal group of people. They don’t want to move away to devices by Sony, or HTC, but their openness is forcing everybody to rethink their loyalties. Indeed we have already lost one great developer to the Sony community.
Also and finally, please bear in mind; as Samsung evangelists we push your products, we advise others, we really are major influencers. In this day and age, who doesn't ask a geek they know on Facebook for advice on their next technology purchase? At the moment, the answer is “buy Samsung – you won’t be sorry” when they are going to buy a new phone, TV, or any other device... let’s work together to keep it that way please?
Here are some of the biggest Samsung Facebook pages:
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobile
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileUK
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungUSA
https://www.facebook.com/samsungmobilecanada
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileRussia
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileIndia
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/samsungmobilemalaysia
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileSingapore
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileBelgium
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileDeutschland
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungNederland
https://www.facebook.com/galaxys3forum
https://www.facebook.com/samsungsupport
https://www.facebook.com/SamsungApps
Samsung Google+ Page:
https://plus.google.com/+SamsungMobile
Let's BOMB them until they surrender! :laugh:
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Maybe we should throw something about Jelly Bean also!
Ripped from /r/android. Found this to be quite interesting. Apparently the OEMs don't really control if their devices get support for new android versions or not.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1j13xd/how_oems_havent_announced_43_updates_for_the/
https://plus.google.com/116988351660148062102/posts/MHhMo7X1fbF
Shen Ye said:
To all the people complaining about how OEMs haven't announced 4.3 updates for the devices:
• OEMs do not get the Android source code directly from Google.
• The SoC vendors are provided the code from Google, where they make a board support package (BSP) which contains drivers and optimisations etc.
• The BSPs are then passed on to the OEMs, which they use to develop updates for their devices.
OEMs are currently waiting for the silicon vendors to decide which SoCs they will support in making a 4.3 BSP for, because their update support is heavily dependent on this.
For example, Qualcomm recently decided to drop development for a 4.2.2 BSP on their S3 SoCs, which is why HTC had turn around and say they were dropping support for the One S. This also caused Sony to drop update development for the Xperia S, SL, Acro S and ION (all S3 SoCs).
Everyone remembers the Thunderbolt and Sensation (LTE variants) which used the Scorpion MSM8655, which Qualcomm dropped support for, so OEMs had to drop future updates for.
Samsung is an exception, they're their own devices' silicon vendors when it comes to Exynos. But they also had to drop support for their S2 LTE variants which were using the Qualcomm Scorpion SoC.
Sure, it's not the perfect system, but it's how it works in the industry right now.
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This doesn't sound right if there's people bringing unofficial 4.2.2 updates to said devices. If some guy that that doesn't even have a job with android developing can do it, I think a multimillion dollar OEM can.
Ascertion said:
This doesn't sound right if there's people bringing unofficial 4.2.2 updates to said devices. If some guy that that doesn't even have a job with android developing can do it, I think a multimillion dollar OEM can.
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True, but none of those 4.2.2 ports have kernel source code, and therefore none of them truly work 100% with no bugs whatsoever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe devs use prior kernel sources and modify them to work with newer android versions (for instance, I had ICS via CM9 on my droid incredible 2, but it never worked 100%).
Yay, time to send hate-mail to Qualcomm.
Sent from my buttered S3
User "iamadogforreal" had an interesting reply:
iamadogforreal said:
This is OEM apologia. In the real world, these OEMs are the customers and boss around the chip makers. Not the other way around, like this blogger is claiming. If OEMs cared about updates then they'd put that in their contracts and pressure the chip makers to do them. Instead, this becomes a convenient excuse (collusion?) for OEMs to stop making those expensive updates, especially when you're 4 months from launching another flagship phone.
Funny how the Nexus line doesn't have this problem. Gee, maybe google just is getting lucky with niceguy SoCs? No, google puts this in their contracts.
Honestly, if you think the SoC guys are telling the world's biggest companies like Sony or Samsung to **** off and to tell your customers to **** off, then you're incredibly naive. Android fans need to keep pressuring these companies to deliver timely updates and to commit to a two year update cycle, at least. Articles like these don't do us any service and only exist to validate that awful status quo.
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