Comments on: Extend the border of free cyberspace to mobile http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/ about open communities, source of freedom and good software Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:11:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Stef http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-33000 Stef Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:20:24 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-33000 Graziano: I don't think that imitating GUI and functions of proprietary software is necessarily a good thing, mainly because lots of stuff out there is pretty bad/old. Think of OLPC and Sugar, how beautiful it is. Sugar doesn't imitate, it innovates. Graziano: I don’t think that imitating GUI and functions of proprietary software is necessarily a good thing, mainly because lots of stuff out there is pretty bad/old. Think of OLPC and Sugar, how beautiful it is. Sugar doesn’t imitate, it innovates.

]]> By: Stef http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-32999 Stef Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:17:00 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-32999 Max: the G1 is still too far away to be an acceptable device for the free software movement. Arguing that G1 is better than iPhone, while it's still largely freedom-depriving is not going to get us more free devices. You say you would buy a G1 provided it gave you the knowledge to remove its proprietary software: well, the issue is that you can't do that! The device is <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization" rel="nofollow">tivo-ized</a>, and that makes it unsuitable for a free world. Max: the G1 is still too far away to be an acceptable device for the free software movement. Arguing that G1 is better than iPhone, while it’s still largely freedom-depriving is not going to get us more free devices.

You say you would buy a G1 provided it gave you the knowledge to remove its proprietary software: well, the issue is that you can’t do that! The device is tivo-ized, and that makes it unsuitable for a free world.

]]> By: Max http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-32997 Max Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:18:39 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-32997 I really wish people would stop criticizing the G1 for not being composed solely of Free Software. In this article, it is compared to the iPhone. Maybe I know nothing about what I am talking about, but there seems to be a huge difference between the iPhone/Blackberry/whatever and the Android-based G1. The difference is that those who know they want freedom can obtain it fairly easily on the G1. This dream is impossible with the major closed platforms, unless you throw GNU/Linux on them. I personally would not have any problem buying a G1 armed with the knowledge of how to remove the proprietary software from the open framework underneath. I really wish people would stop criticizing the G1 for not being composed solely of Free Software. In this article, it is compared to the iPhone. Maybe I know nothing about what I am talking about, but there seems to be a huge difference between the iPhone/Blackberry/whatever and the Android-based G1. The difference is that those who know they want freedom can obtain it fairly easily on the G1. This dream is impossible with the major closed platforms, unless you throw GNU/Linux on them.

I personally would not have any problem buying a G1 armed with the knowledge of how to remove the proprietary software from the open framework underneath.

]]> By: Max http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-32996 Max Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:17:59 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-32996 I really wish people of criticizing the G1 for not being composed solely of Free Software. In this article, it is compared to the iPhone. Maybe I know nothing about what I am talking about, but there seems to be a huge difference between the iPhone/Blackberry/whatever and the Android-based G1. The difference is that those who know they want freedom can obtain it fairly easily on the G1. This dream is impossible with the major closed platforms, unless you throw GNU/Linux on them. I personally would not have any problem buying a G1 armed with the knowledge of how to remove the proprietary software from the open framework underneath. I really wish people of criticizing the G1 for not being composed solely of Free Software. In this article, it is compared to the iPhone. Maybe I know nothing about what I am talking about, but there seems to be a huge difference between the iPhone/Blackberry/whatever and the Android-based G1. The difference is that those who know they want freedom can obtain it fairly easily on the G1. This dream is impossible with the major closed platforms, unless you throw GNU/Linux on them.

I personally would not have any problem buying a G1 armed with the knowledge of how to remove the proprietary software from the open framework underneath.

]]> By: Graziano http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-32995 Graziano Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:28:41 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-32995 I agree that the role of pc will change in the future because we are invaded by handheld devices, netbooks, and so on. But I feel that what we need remains the same. We need free software developers to create software that should be almost identical to the proprietary ones in term of GUI and usability. But most of all we need people to talk about digital freedom, to make people judge software by ethical terms and not only by features/speed. I agree that the role of pc will change in the future because we are invaded by handheld devices, netbooks, and so on. But I feel that what we need remains the same.

We need free software developers to create software that should be almost identical to the proprietary ones in term of GUI and usability.

But most of all we need people to talk about digital freedom, to make people judge software by ethical terms and not only by features/speed.

]]> By: Carlo Piana http://maffulli.net/2008/12/30/extend-the-border-of-free-cyberspace-to-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-32993 Carlo Piana Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:04:54 +0000 http://maffulli.net/?p=715#comment-32993 I agree, now the game is refocusing on mobile and cloud, which are two sides of the same coin, not at all two separate things. The gap between mobile and PC is being closed, if it still exists, by smartphones and netbooks, and I believe that PCs will play a very limited role in the upcoming years, or even they will fade away (like the desktop form factor for PCs). Unfortunately, I fear that the tools with which the Free Software has achieved so much success are slightly ineffective in this new arena. With the sheer force of a great dose of idealism, a couple of licenses and a bunch of lines of code, what has been achieved in twenty years' time is impressive. But I don't think History will repeat itself. What we need more badly than we needed it twenty years ago is public support and political backing. Good licensing, good idealism and good programming are not enough anymore. We need widespread public outreach. The game has been sort of reinvented, we must stay ahead of the game, and we'll win! Happy 2009! Carlo I agree, now the game is refocusing on mobile and cloud, which are two sides of the same coin, not at all two separate things. The gap between mobile and PC is being closed, if it still exists, by smartphones and netbooks, and I believe that PCs will play a very limited role in the upcoming years, or even they will fade away (like the desktop form factor for PCs).

Unfortunately, I fear that the tools with which the Free Software has achieved so much success are slightly ineffective in this new arena. With the sheer force of a great dose of idealism, a couple of licenses and a bunch of lines of code, what has been achieved in twenty years’ time is impressive. But I don’t think History will repeat itself.

What we need more badly than we needed it twenty years ago is public support and political backing. Good licensing, good idealism and good programming are not enough anymore. We need widespread public outreach. The game has been sort of reinvented, we must stay ahead of the game, and we’ll win!

Happy 2009!

Carlo

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