Someone Copied the SNAP Source Code to Github Before Sony Pulled it Down

https://github.com/deliciousrobots/gnustep-gui-sony

by wtracy • 16 years ago

82 37 16 years ago

jluxenberg• 16 years ago

Does anyone know why the source was pulled?

sudont• 16 years ago

I’m guessing somebody leaned on Sony, as this was stated to be an all-in thing for their upcoming product lines, not an "experimental R&D project" as listed now.

There’s a couple of major players, namely Microsoft and Oracle; I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was unhappy with this and moved to keep their skill-bank walled in.

Other than that, maybe a pointy-haired boss wanted something like .NET because it sounded more internet-y.

masklinn• 16 years ago

> I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was unhappy with this and moved to keep their skill-bank walled in.

I would find this surprising: more companies using obj-c means more people using obj-c means more people able to code on Apple platforms, which use obj-c nigh-exclusively.

aberkowitz• 16 years ago

Perhaps Sony forgot to remove code [0] that leaks new technology [1].

[0] http://blog.deliciousrobots.com/2010/11/27/sonys-changes-to-...

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/28/sony-fires-barrage-of-tou...

gcb• 16 years ago

They are afraid of being hit with a lawsuit on multitouch. since apple is suing everyone with two fingers.

olalonde• 16 years ago

PR stunt maybe?

kevingailey• 16 years ago

Is there a reason you'd want this? It seems if Sony pulled SNAP that the "next gen platform" it was to be intended for may not materialize, or may use another framework? What good could come out of this SDK if there's isn't a device/platform to use it on? /newbie question

joezydeco• 16 years ago

Maybe you wouldn't want the competition to see what's in your "next gen platform" just yet?

rbanffy7• 16 years ago

Sony's modifications would be available for incorporation into GNUStep (as the ones already released already are).

mgunes• 16 years ago

For context:

http://blog.deliciousrobots.com/2010/11/27/sonys-changes-to-...

wmf2• 16 years ago

This may explain why Sony removed the code; Apple is very touchy about multitouch gestures and implementing them in ObjC must be particularly galling.

rbanffy7• 16 years ago

I am quite sure Sony owns a lot of patents Apple needs. It's unlikely Sony and Apple would enter a patent war.

binaryfinery4• 16 years ago

I love "next gen platforms" based on technology from 1986. At least it doesn't use punch cards, I guess.

glhaynes2• 16 years ago

Much of the cutting edge today is based on Unix which has been continuously evolving since 1969... if you solve problems well from the outset, you often don't have to re-solve them over and over.

zdw• 16 years ago

As a corollary to this, see also all the articles on HN about people rediscovering vi 30 years after it was created.

How many editors out there lack regex and multiple clipboards, both of which have been around forever in vi?

Know the past or you may accidentally reimplement a solution to a problem that has already solved in a better way.

prodigal_erik• 16 years ago

There are few problems for which unchecked pointer arithmetic is a good solution, and even fewer at the application level. Computers are hundreds of times faster than they were in the NeXTstep days. We no longer need to risk undefined behavior just to get a GUI to keep up with a human. Hell, Eclipse is probably the most bloated Java IDE you could find, and it's only sometimes intolerable on a six-year-old laptop.

ObjC is basically Smalltalk weakened by some dangerous efficiency hacks we haven't needed for a decade.

binaryfinery4• 16 years ago

Which would be a valid point if Objective-C had evolved since 1986. The C family has evolved since then, C++, Java, C# v1 - C# v4. Objective-C gained properties in v2 and a host of ways to break encapsulation but its hardly evolved. The tools are even worse. XCode Fanbois rejoice at "new features" that I've had in SlickEdit since 1993.

You've hit the nail on the head with regard to my complaint.

troutwine2• 16 years ago

Why make such a comment? Being so short you can hardly add to the discussion. Being so sarcastic you add no more than a negation. To make a contribution whose tone is negative is both easy and galling. Strive, instead, to find the things which are worth saying.

binaryfinery4• 16 years ago

Because it needs to be said. PHBs look at the iPhone and its success, and see that it uses ObjectiveC, and jump on the bandwagon. Someone who has actually used ObjectiveC and other languages needs to point out that Emperor Steve's new clothes were just stolen from a pantomime wardrobe in 1986.

FeathersMcGraw• 16 years ago

I'm surprised that in discussions I've seen that nobody has mentioned Google TV. As a next gen TV framework SNAP would compete directly with it. It could even be seen as a less resource intensive & closer to the metal response to the Google TV strategy.

I think it's far more likely that it was shelved due to internal politics or pressure from Google than any other theory.

Someone Copied the SNAP Source Code to Github Before Sony Pulled it Down

Related Stories