On 24 March 2010 19:01, Robinson Tryon <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 1:38 PM, Adrian Yanes <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Maybe the social contract sounds very free-software "fanatic" for a >> company, but is one of the best warranties to offer a complete open >> source project. >> >> Besides, it would be a signal of commitment with the community, and it >> will encourage participation in the development. > > I agree that some companies might have initial reservations about the > social contract, but we can explain to them that *they don't have to > sign it*. We're happy to have them use Meego and are perfectly willing > to let them fold-in binary drivers (of their own or someone else's > manufacture) on their own devices. > > It's just that if they sign the contract and commit drivers and other > code back to Meego core, the community will help them maintain, > bugfix, and even improve that code. For no cost. > > Let's lead with a carrot here. Maybe only a handful of vendors will > sign initially, but we may be able to convince more to join as they > observe the benefits of open development. > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Wichmann, Mats D > <[email protected]> wrote: >> My completely personal, completely unofficial reaction is >> that this would have a LOT of problems on the Tivoization >> front, as it seems to me everybody below the netbook and >> possible tablet type device is interested in some level of >> locking down their image... Don't know if it looks that >> way to the rest of you or I'm just being too pessimistic? > > I agree that several vendors are locking down their small devices > (just look at all of the jailbreaking/rooting going on in the > Apple/Android camps), however I think that as hardware gets smaller > and cheaper there will be an increasing number of vendors who offer > ever-cheaper hardware without any such lock-downs.
Cheaper? Did you check the manufacturer cost of iPhone / Nexus one? I don't think the problem are the costs, is the mentality of the vendors. > > The practice of locked-down, subsidized phones will continue as long > as there are users buying-in to the system and as long as it remains > legal to enforce such lockdowns. The current price of smart phone > hardware is so high that it restricts outright ownership to only a > small segment of the population. As cheaper hardware becomes > available, purchasing an unlocked phone will become a viable > alternative for an increasing number of people. > _______________________________________________ MeeGo-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.meego.com/listinfo/meego-dev
