CyanogenMod Windows-Based Installer Released, With Supporting Android App 74
Zanadou writes "CyanogenMod today released for general availability a friendly[er]-to-use Windows-based installer that will automagically (no need to first root and/or unlock the bootloader) step users though downloading, flashing and setting up an appropriate CyanogenMod version on supported Android phones. Along with this, a 'companion app' that apparently helps set up the installer is now available the Play Store, along with a newly-refreshed download page. Still no image for 'hammerhead' (Nexus 5), though."
Re:why be douchey about the latest shiny? (Score:4, Insightful)
CM almost always targets the Nexus device first (since the Nexus line started) which then trickles to everything else. This is not the case this go round*, so the comment was probably a heads up to N5 owners wanting CM.
(*probably because current CM is still JB, Nexus 5 is KK, so releasing for the 5 would require back porting JB, which is a lot of wasted effort)
Great work these guys are doing (Score:5, Insightful)
But I really wish the phone technology ecosystem didn't *require* good people, like the guys at CM, to do what they do.
I'm referring mostly to the locked-down, restrictive, anti-user bullshit that defines the smartphone world. Boot loaders that are locked, software that you can't easily remove ... change any of that and you'll void your warranty, of course. When's the last time you voided a warranty on a real computer's hardware for modifying some fucking *software*?!
I should be able to pop in a micro SD card into any smartphone (yes, all smartphones should support one) and install any operating system with the right drivers.
Y'know, like a *computer* (because it is one)
Re:So much for supporting open source.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wanting a "streamlined" option for accomplishing a task has nothing to do with how smart or knowledgeable a person is. For example, I've used Linux for 5 years and have installed plenty of firmware, but I find doing so stressful and tedious -- I'd rather click through a few screens so Ican start actively working on the device.
Besides, if you're a Linux user, you should know perfectly well that these days, it really doesn't take any more intelligence/knowledge to use it than to use OSXor Windows. To be honest, I find Mac OSX the hardest for some reason. :-)
Of the fourth declension (Score:4, Insightful)
I recently acquired a Nexus 4 (yay for the Nexus 5 creating a more vibrant market in second hand Nexi) ans was slightly surprised about the lack of apps already installed compared to my old Samsung phone.
The plural of "nexus" in Latin in "nexûs." (Actually, the diacritic on the 'u' should be a macron, but alas, Slashdot won't display that character.)
My €0.02.