Hi all , > Praveen wrote > Some components of Android, like GSM driver, Google Maps, > etc are not > Free as in Freedom. Though Microsoft is talking about > patents and > development cost from a Free of cost angle only.
I agree with you that Microsoft is trying to counter some propaganda against it (as per their perception) . Being a Commercial Software development company , what else can we expect from them?. > > Deepak wrote >Seems to be just PR FUD thingie. MS had told the same thing about Linux >also >on the cost of ownership thing. Windows mobile is not even in the >scene now a >days after Android and iphone. >it was HTC who made most of the win mobile phones and it is now HTC who >is >promoting android. So MS better get the windows mobile 7 right. So >they are >trying hard. > Having worked with Apple SDK , Android SDK and Windows mobile SDK , i have understood that from a technical perspective there is nothing to choose between them. ( I am assuming that Phone Makers and the power of embedded processor remains the same ) I think you are making the observation without "fiddling" with the stuff ( I might be wrong , pls. correct me ! ). HTC might have looked at the economics of the stuff rather than their concern for freedom as we see it or the relative technical merit. IMHO , Windows mobile 7 SDK is good for development , if some body is trying to target a device which runs the Windows software . ( Market share of Windows 7 mobile is dwindling . This i agree . I wrote the above paragraph because why should we confuse some one who might earn a livelihood by writing Windows mobile apps?. Argument should be to understand the truth , not to have the satisfaction of winning an argument ) The Apple SDK is centered around Objective C Programming language and Apple has added lot of extensions to their version of GCC ( GCC has got support for Objective C and Objective C++ language and try to play with the GNUStep project to learn about the programming model for MAC and iPhone under Linux ! ) Learning Objective C requires some background in C/C++ programming language and this has been a "mental block" for most developers. Apple has got a stringent approval policy and they are particular that their Phone should use a Compiled Language or JavaScript packaged with their Web Kit engine. ( This is a clever technique to prevent Adobe tools entering the Apple "forte" ) Android is defenitely the SDK of the future for Volume software development. Java is the primary programming language and there are people available with that skill set already. Since Google do not "own" it , there are no Apple like restrictions. Licensing cost for Windows mobile and Closed nature of Apple platform will give Android a great boost. So Comparison at a technical and market level should be between Android and Apple iOS as Windows mobile is for "loyal" developer following which MS have built over a period of three decades. ( Let them live their own life and as per indian ethos "good" and "bad" can co-exist !) @all Can we apply FOSS "lens" to evaluate the Phone ? Primary use case of a Phone is to talk ( I know about convergance stuff.. do not attack me from that angle ) and just because there is software being used should we be vocal about this ? ( Open source Hardware [ i know there is initiative ] and Open Source Software [ it is already matured ] to be there and it will take years before such a thing materializes ) My writing should not be taken as a defense of Microsoft or Approval of the Android/ Apple. As a software developer , i need to make a living by writing software and i believe that there are lot of people in the group which might share thisview of the world. So , let FOSS Philosophers talk about the Freedom aspect of the mobile software ( We are interested in learning from them ). As developers , we should care about technical merits and economics to choose the mobile platform. There is living to be made from software as well !! regards Praseed Pai --- On Thu, 9/2/10, Praveen A <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Praveen A <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [ILUG-Cochin.org] Microsoft Argues That Android Isn't 'Free' > To: "This List discusses GNU/Linux & GNU, GPL Software" > <[email protected]> > Date: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 3:53 PM > 2010/9/3 Ganesan Venkata Subramanian > <[email protected]>: > > HI ALL > > > > IS THERE ANY THRUTH IN THIS ??????/ > > Some components of Android, like GSM driver, Google Maps, > etc are not > Free as in Freedom. Though Microsoft is talking about > patents and > development cost from a Free of cost angle only. > -- > പ്രവീണ് > അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് > You have to keep reminding your government that you don't > get your > rights from them; you give them permission to rule, only so > long as > they follow the rules: laws and constitution. > > _______________________________________________ > Indian Libre User Group Cochin Mailing List > http://www.ilug-cochin.org/mailing-list/ > http://mail.ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org > #[email protected] _______________________________________________ Indian Libre User Group Cochin Mailing List http://www.ilug-cochin.org/mailing-list/ http://mail.ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org #[email protected]
