Ask HN: Be a hero, join Project Maya

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4107019

by dutchbrit • 14 years ago

23 9 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

For those who haven't read about Maya, please look here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4103344

It's not just about Maya, but others too that rely on such apps.

It's time like this where I wish developers/designers/people would unite, and create a kick ass free & open source solution to solve problems like this.

First of all, maybe by creating a web app, which, if it could be, cached on an iPad. Otherwise, just a web app that can be run on an iPad (even though you;d have small lag while getting the audio, which could possibly be generated via Google's Voice API?)

Secondly, create an Android version. I'm not sure if Speak For Yourself is planning/making an Android version, but software patents is the main issue here. It literally disgusts me.

Who here would be interested in helping? It's just an idea, but an idea I'd love to execute.

lifeisstillgood• 14 years ago

You had me at "Hello."

I assumed something like this was buried in the depths of 240+ comments, thanks for raising it up.

Want a mailing list? Putting together something on mailchimp now.

dutchbrit3• 14 years ago

Mailing list would be a great start! Mine is sam.granger@gmail.com

whir• 14 years ago

I love it when the internet can come together to do something great.

I'd be interested, certainly.

dutchbrit3• 14 years ago

Awesome! :)

mcherm• 14 years ago

You're solving the wrong problem.

Apple has removed this from their appstore to save on headaches: so they can't be accused of being lax on patent enforcement. But once the court case is over (assuming the patent holder wins) such software will be ILLEGAL, regardless of whether it is a web app, what OS it runs on and whether or not it is open source.

Software patents are the problem, and the only place they can be fixed is in the US Congress. (The rest of the world can't fix them because of pressure from the US. The US, Congress though, thinks it's immune to pressure from anyone else.)

dutchbrit3• 14 years ago

I'm based in Europe. Software patents don't apply to me :)

But I agree that software patents need to end. But I can't solve that problem any time soon ;)

Mz• 14 years ago

Clickable: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4103344

mcteapot• 14 years ago

A question from the other post: What is some one was to create an open-source version of the app and release the code. There is nothing to stop the parents from acquiring a developers licence and running the app on there hardware. Is there any chance of a project of this nature getting shutdown?

Also what is the patent in dispute? If it is a UI issue, it would be interesting to come up with an alternate UX/UI interface.

primitur• 14 years ago

I believe you should be using MOAI for this project, which is perfect for the goal of having a cross-platform environment with rich media capabilities:

http://getmoai.com/

If you want to discuss it further, let me know, and I welcome you to join the MOAI forums to find other interested developers that can help boot this project up ..

Ask HN: Be a hero, join Project Maya

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