When I first started to program the PalmOS some months ago, I was very
enthusiastic about the fact that I would actually get a lot of the OS
source code to play with. This kind of low level understanding holds a lot
of value to me, so I took the time to sign the papers for developer binary
seeding and source code, and sent them on their way early August.
It's now 28th of October, and I have yet to hear back from Palm. I've
released three shareware applications for the Palm platform in this time,
but my low level knowledge is limited by this frustrating lack of
available resources.
While I'm patient and trust Palm will be able to process my application in
due time and hopefully with positive results, beyond this message I have
no persistance to chase it up. My day job in PC 3D/visualization is quite
different a beast; we generally never have to *purchase* development
hardware because a delay of just weeks can determine whether a new chip
will swim or sink.
Good things come to those who wait. Meanwhile, it's not stopping from
pushing further in development. Palm is certainly on the right track; I
believe the "two weeks for processing" has proven to be too optimistic a
figure with the amount of developer interest they are getting.
If I could start programming a color application for the up-and-coming
VZ palms, I would. Today. On a "warez" SDK if I must, to better and
sooner support the platform. Is there a problem in my ethic?
Jouni
--
Jouni Mannonen
http://www.hybrid.fi/palm/
Hybrid Holding, Ltd.
On Thu, 28 Oct 1999, Frykholm, Niklas wrote:
> I had the same problem. It is a real nuisance, especially if you work on
> projects with short deadlines. I understand that 3Com wants to protect its
> products, but frankly I fail to see what the Confidentiality Agreement
> really protects, considering that
>
> A) ROMs are already being distributed on warez sites (as someone reported).
> B) Since it is (very nearly) impossible to trace the source of a ROM that
> has been spread, no one will ever be charged with having broken the
> agreement.
> C) Anyone who has a Palm device can get the ROMs without having to sign
> anything.
>
> // Niklas
>
