[maemo-developers] Hello Maemo - CFSONID 2008

[From: Quim Gil]

Hi!

ext Robert Schuster wrote:
> In the first
> Maemo talk Quim invited the community to speak out to Nokia (Btw: really
> Nokia or just the OSSO team?)

Well, Nokia. Don't expect 60.000 employees to be listening though, nor
the CEO being subscribed to this list.  ;)


> You are not a zealot like me and need an argument now?

Not really. What I personally miss is a specific plan by the community
to achieve that. Is that plan the Mamona project lead by INdT
developers? Is it opening or finding open alternatives to some of the
closed components in the current maemo official components? Something else?

The argumentation is clear and we understand about free software as much
as you, more or less. The thing is: for Nokia reaching 100% of software
freedom is explicitly not a goal. The goal is to make good business
producing successful products, and free software + the collaboration
with the free software community are essential factors in this strategy
- but not the only ones.

But on the other hand Nokia has no interest stopping anybody from
working on a 100% free maemo variant, or running whatever 100% free OS
in maemo compatible Nokia devices. The devices are fairly open and you
can even get the help of a rich community with a strong focus in
software freedom (aka maemo.org) where you can also find Nokia employees
with a very good knowledge of the platform and also a good understanding
of your agenda.

So please, no need to invest more time explaining to Nokia the goodness
of free software and the opportunities behind a 100% free platform.
Instead, you could better work on a plan or on real free code, like the
Mamona guys are doing as well as those working on Debian, Ubuntu and
what not ports.

Nokia has opened whatever it was found useful to have open, and the door
is... open... to open more stuff if there is a good developer/business
argumentation behind that.


> - I consider the OSSO team at Nokia to be more open to FOSS than any
> other part in that company and that those guys are restricted by company
> policies. If there is something to fix than it will have most likely to
> do with that other parts.

At the end it's not a restriction, but a business plan. Nokia has
reasons to think than the current setting mixing open & closed software
works better for its business than a 100% open or a 100% closed setting.
Then as a freedom software I can complain or lobby in certain
directions, but I also try to understand the business reasons why Nokia
thinks that our salaries will be paid better following the current path.
 And the guys managing the investment have also a point, I tell you.



> - If not said otherwise I speak in the name of those Maemo users who
> know that FOSS is the way to go. Everyone is free to completely disagree
> with my views & opinions.


> Over time I learned about a few reasons why companies keep their
> Linux-based operating systems closed or deny NDA-free access to
> specification. Here are some:

I can add one more: lack of proof that a 100% free operating system is a
better business proposition for a company. If you look the world with
business eyes, 100% free operating systems have little impact in the
PC/laptop world and no impact in the mobile space. Nokia is already
pushing and leading in terms of % of openness with the current maemo
setting. For you this is not enough, for many others this is already
much more than they expected.


> Without knowing anything from inside OSSO/Nokia in this regard I still
> hope that those reasons apply more or less to them because I want to
> base this year's "Campaign for Software Freedom on Nokia IT devices
> (tm)"[2] on them. ;)

The campaign proposal is interesting. I wonder if Nokia is the main
target, though. Sure, Nokia is one of the targets but perhaps it's the
own community of developers who could make a change. Or did the Linux &
open source communities wait for IBM, Intel, HP and so on to come up
with the desired support while campaigning?

Coding has been the best campaign of Linux and open source. Who is
stopping you on what from coding to increase the freedom of the maemo
platform?

> Benefits: I am not a lawyer, marketing expert, economist or else. Ask
> them if you want advice. However a commodization of portable devices
> like the ITs is likely.

Lawyers, marketing experts and economists will tell you that companies
like Nokia make their profits on differentiation rather than
commoditation. There are parts of the platform where commoditation is
preferred i.e. the L:inux kernel, but keeping a leading position in a
market with 100% commoditized products is almost a mission impossible,
specially when starting a new family product like these lovely Internet
centric devices with touch screen and etc.


> will distill the above stuff into an 'official' statement, put it online
> somewhere (Maemo Wiki?) and let supporting users subscribe to it. The
> final document is then given to Nokia/OSSO as part of the 'action days'
> and if the interest from them is not zero ... well, then you will read
> more mails from me. I also hope^H^H^H^H expect more people to chime in then.

Yes, wiki please. There are already ideas on your direction there. If
the community has a concrete plan, then it's easier for Nokia to deal
with it.

-- 
Quim Gil
marketing manager, open source
maemo software @ Nokia