Firefox OS Building Blocks find a new home, and get more streamlined

https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/07/firefox-os-building-blocks-find-a-new-home-and-get-more-streamlined/

by blueveek • 13 years ago

68 10 13 years ago

hacks.mozilla.org

jdc• 13 years ago

I haven't been following Firefox OS that closely, but one question comes to mind: why didn't Mozilla fork Palm's excellent WebOS?

S201• 13 years ago

One reason is that Firefox OS uses the Android kernel. This means that Mozilla doesn't have to beg device manufacturers for hardware support. If a device runs Android, it should be able to run Firefox OS with little software modification. Another reason is that Firefox OS uses Gecko as the UI. So the two major components, the kernel and userland are taken care of; there is no benefit from forking WebOS.

garysweaver3• 13 years ago

One reason is that Firefox OS uses the Android kernel.

It uses parts of Android in HAL, but Gonk isn't Android.

Argorak• 13 years ago

Very simple. HP announced open sourcing WebOS in Winter 2011, Boot 2 Gecko (as Firefox OS was called back then) was announced in July 2011. Expect that Mozilla worked on it well before that.

Firefox OS predates the open WebOS.

_delirium• 13 years ago

The actual release of the WebOS code was even later, August 2012.

garysweaver3• 13 years ago

We wanted to know if it was possible to use Building Blocks not only for its main purpose, that’s creating phone applications, but also as a base to create a standard web site.

While I've known that the "phone" has been the primary target so far of FF OS, but still I'm a little sad that I'm reading it.

iOS and Android are built for tablets as well as phones. iOS is going to be expanding by allowing more devices to connect in their next version. When I first heard about FF OS, I thought: "Awesome! Now I can start writing HTML5 apps for my phone, my tablet, my desktop, etc." But, then I found out that the goal was just to be a phone. I not only spend a lot more of my day on a laptop/desktop than a phone, but I'd like to live in a future where the software can be written once for desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, "watch", car, or other device, and new hardware can easily be integrated with it (such as a keyboard, printer, car electronics/computer, stereo, etc.).

I think it is awesome that FF OS apps will be easier to develop, but I wish there was something fun to develop in HTML5 and JS that I couldn't do already in Android or iOS. To do this, FF OS has to stop being afraid to really dig into Gonk and make it as easily extensible on the hardware side as it is to develop and share HTML5 apps in FF OS.

rnyman• 13 years ago

There are definitely visions and plans to be more than phones. Did you ever see this announcement? - http://blog.mozilla.org/ligong/2013/06/03/foxconn-joins-the-...

Edit: Disclaimer, I work for Mozilla

garysweaver3• 13 years ago

Awesome! Looking forward to being able to use FF OS on my laptop!

bitsoda• 13 years ago

For those wanting to take FF OS for a spin, load up Firefox and search the add-ons directory for "Firefox OS Simulator".

bobbles• 13 years ago

Has there been any progess towards being able to dual-boot OS on a phone? It would be great if you could run stock android on say a Nexus 4, but boot into other OS's to try them out

Firefox OS Building Blocks find a new home, and get more streamlined

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