[maemo-community] N9 device seeding activity

[From: robert bauer]

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 2:53 PM, Tim Samoff <tim at samoff.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In playing Devil's Advocate, though...
>
> What will this actually do for Maemo or Meego or Meego Harmattan or
> Nokia...?
>
> I think it's an amazing gesture that will most likely spawn a number of
> community efforts (which is a good thing), but what's the ultimate point
> of the offering?
>
> Will Nokia see a bunch of impassioned developers and change their
> decisions about the future of Meego Harmattan?
>
> I understand the impetus to get people developing with Qt5, etc., but
> will these devices actually do that? Or, will they just get people to
> stick with the Meego Harmattan platform and not think of the future?
>
> Qt5+ is, of course, the goal of something like this -- and it helps that
> it's cross-platform -- but what are your device recipients actually
> going to do with their devices? Will they really go whole hog into Qt
> development?
>
> Remember, I'm playing Devil's Advocate here... Personally, I really like
> the idea -- as ideas like this have always reinvigorated the community.
> But, is it something that will benefit our community in the long-run?
>
> Here's what I would like to see come from something like this:
>
> A certain (large) percentage of community developers become really good
> Qt developers and stop harping on what Maemo/Meego is/was. If this
> doesn't happen, then I think that the offering should be considered a
> failure.
>
> We don't need more people putting effort into prolonging Maemo/Meego. We
> need people who are willing to put time and effort into forging a future
> for the community, be it linux mobile, or something else.
>
> Yes, I've been ranting a lot lately -- apologies. It's been quite a
> strange experience to see the Maemo community going through what it's
> going through right now... Déjà vu. What I'd really like to see is a new
> direction with new prospects and new community members.
>
> Something like what Quim is suggesting could help. But, it could also
> hinder.
>
> Br,
> Tim
>
>
Thank you for your comments.  No need to apologize.  It's always good to
remember the long term and to contemplate the future.  I do that a lot
lately, or more specifically, ponder how to build a bridge to that future
from where we are today.  Which is better than last year, when I was simply
pondering how to prevent stagnancy.  For every community project, I try to
think as you have mentioned, how does this bring us closer to where we want
to be?

I have posted before implying that free device giveaways can be a
distraction not in keeping with an open source community.  And this
proposal does feel a bit like the same old thing being repeated.  And
harmattan has in the past seemed like something that was not a path to the
future.  But at the same time, denying the present doesn't bring us a new
future.  Fact is we don't currently have a mission statement that states
the future we want.  So how can this be inconsistent with the as yet
undefined future.  It seems like we are in the process of moving to a
community OBS which will integrate harmattan and fremantle and reading all
of Quim's comments in this thread, the proposal does not seem to have a lot
of strings attached.  So while I'm now just thinking, I suspect we will
accept it with appreciation for Nokia's goodwill.  Remember this offer
could have been made to Qt project or some other place.

p.s. javispedro - thank you also for the good points you have made re app
distribution

Br,
Rob
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