Al Sutton wrote: > I may be reading what you've written in a different way to you've intended, > but it reads very much like you guys see Google produced Android stuff from > the internal Google repository as "Android", and anything else (including > the public repository) is being an offshoot project.
It doesn't have to be an internal Google repository. Let's suppose the source code in question was Mozilla Firefox. You decide to grab HEAD off the Firefox repositories, build it, and declare that you, Al Sutton, are distributing Firefox 4.0. The Mozilla Foundation might be somewhat irked by such a declaration. If you had a similar role in Mozilla-land as you do in Android-dom, the lead developers on Firefox might be quick to point out that you are not distributing Firefox 4.0, but rather your own build of your own snapshot of in-progress code. While your browser may resemble what will eventually be Firefox 4.0, Firefox 4.0 is not yet ready, and anyone relying on your release may run into compatibility issues with the official Firefox 4.0 release. So long as you are within the bounds of the open source license and relevant trademark uses, there is nothing to prevent you from trying to convince people that yours is the One True Firefox 4.0. Or you can position it as your own preview edition. And this is not to say that your preview edition would be a bad thing (e.g., AJAX toolkit folk wanting to get cracking on known Firefox 4.0 changes), just that it's not official. My interpretation of JBQ's comments [JBQ: please forgive me if I've missed your intent] are that he wants to make sure people realize that you are not distributing <insert next Android SDK version number here>, but rather your own build of your own snapshot of in-progress code. While your SDK may resemble <the unnamed thingy>, <that thing> is not yet ready, and anyone relying on your release may run into compatibility issues with the official <whatchamacallit> release. So long as you are within the bounds of the open source license and relevant trademark uses, there is nothing to prevent you from trying to convince people that yours is the One True Android <M.N> SDK. Or you can position it as your own preview edition. And this is not to say that your preview edition would be a bad thing (e.g., Android developers wanting to test against soft keyboards), just that it's not official. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android App Developer Books: http://commonsware.com/books.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
