Android Gathers Steam Among Open Source Developers 176
svonkie writes "Despite launching on the T-Mobile G1 with little mainstream fanfare, Google Inc.'s Android OS appears to have gained strong interest in the open source development community. According to a survey of Black Duck Software's Knowledge Base, Apple Inc.'s iPhone led the industry with 266 open source project releases during 2008, while Android followed in second place with 191 releases. Black Duck compiled the data after scouring through over 185,000 of open source projects across 4,000 Internet sites."
Google Devs Best I've Ever Worked With (Score:2, Informative)
Of all the open source projects I've worked on or had interaction with the Google Android and Chrome teams have been by far the best. Most friendly, most competent, etc.
Not perfect of course, but an absolute pleasure. I can certainly see why Android would be popular with the rise of smartphones and the netbook and smaller category of devices.
Re:Friendly BSD Projects Vs. Hostile GPL Pricks (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Google needs more US Providers (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Google needs more US Providers (Score:5, Informative)
Honestly, I thought T-mobile was a plus. They seem to be a little less prone to some of the anti-consumer schemes common among providers. They'll even unlock your phone after 90 days if your account remains in good standing. The G1 data plan cost was about what I otherwise saved switching over all my lines from Verizon. They also don't try to hit you with per-MB fees if you go over some cap and you don't need some expensive plan to do this.
What about Nokia and PyS60 ? (Score:4, Informative)
There has been so much focus on iPhone, Android and Windows application development in the media the last few years. And yet no one as far as I can remember has ever mentioned that Nokia has a great open source development platform for their phones which runs on newer Symbian 60 called PyS60(Python for Symbian 60) http://wiki.opensource.nokia.com/projects/Installing_PyS60 [nokia.com]
With PyS60you have access to about every feature in the phone. Everything from SMS, to the accelerometer. Not to mention that programming in Python is fun, and if speed is an issue, you still have access to several Python C++ Extensions http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/C%2B%2B_Python_Extensions [nokia.com] and there is support for developing your own c++ extensions. On the Nokia wiki there are several small easy to read examples of how to use all the technology in their phones http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Category:Python [nokia.com]
Yet I don't understand why developers and media ignore this development platform. Isn't powerful applications that can be coded in less than hundred lines pure joy for a developer? There is a lot of people with Symbian 60 phones out there, more than Android and iPhone together(not sure about Windows though).
Re:Google needs more US Providers (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Google needs more US Providers (Score:1, Informative)
I switched from Verizon to T-mobile and couldn't be happier. Here in Boston the service and speed has been great and my bill is literally half the cost. If you live in an area that has T-mobile it is a good value.
The whole reason I joined T-mobile was to get the G1. So far I've been really happy with it. The Android API is really robust and enjoyable to work with. There is something to be said for cooking something up in Eclipse and running it on your phone a few minutes later.
Re:The iPhone platform is developer hostile (Score:3, Informative)
The Android devel kit will run on whatever hardware you already have. They don't force you to buy anything new.
Re:Wow (Score:2, Informative)
The G1 was released in October of 2008, yet they still had 70% of the number of project releases that the iPhone had in 2008. 70% as many OSS projects in a quarter the number of months.
(Granted, the SDK was available for longer, but still very few people, developers included, actually had a phone; they were excited enough about it to develop apps solely on the emulator, without being able to actually use them until October.)
Re:Google needs more US Providers (Score:3, Informative)
The G1 isn't much of an open platform.
Android itself, sure, and I have it on my freerunner. But I really doubt that they'd get many of the networks on board if they couldn't SIM-lock it.
Re:No mainstream fanfare because the G1 is not goo (Score:3, Informative)
Too bad you never touched one.
I know many people with that phone that go days between charging it.
everything you speak of means you never even touched one. the ONLY thing I cant stand about the G1 is that it feels like a toy. It really needs to be built of metal instead of plastic. It's actually a remarkable phone, you should actually touch and use one.
Re:No mainstream fanfare because the G1 is not goo (Score:4, Informative)
It really depends on how you use it. If you use it to make occassional phone calls, and to check your email once in a while, then you'll easily get a full day or more out of the battery.
If you sit down and use it like a laptop, browing the web, playing games, etc - well, then it will be dead in two hours.
I had a lot of trouble with mine when it was new - but that was because I'd just tinker with it all day on a weekend. Once I settled down to real life use I haven't had any problems with it.
Sure, I'd like more battery life. It is still weaker than I'd like it to be. However, it isn't a reason not to get the phone.
Re:No mainstream fanfare because the G1 is not goo (Score:1, Informative)
The WIFI/GPS is enabled by default.
That's technically true, but you are misleading people. Yes, the GPS is enabled by default, but it isn't actually used unless you have an application open that accesses your location. That setting might be on, but it's not using any power unless you're actively using a location-aware application, in which case your claims about standby time go right out the window.
I have Wi-Fi and GPS enabled on my G1. I get much more than 7 hours battery life, well over a day, and that's real-world use, standby time would be even longer. You are simply not telling the truth. And I say this as somebody who has a public review up on the T-Mobile site complaining about the battery life.
Other smartphones (Blackberry, iPhone, etc) seem to be capable of having these features enabled or toggled on as needed without killing the battery.
Emphasis mine. You're holding the G1 to different standards than the other phones. You can have those other features off on the G1 and toggle them on as needed too. Those other phones suck up power when you're using those features too.
Everyone I know with a G1 carries a charger with them.
I don't believe you've set eyes on a G1, much less know anybody that owns one. If you did, you wouldn't be making stupid claims like it's five years behind. Five years is a long, long time in the phone world and the technology has come a long way.