Database Develop

Why is ROM cooking not organized like open source development?

Hi all,
I really appreciate the work of all ROM cookers, even if I don't use a ROM from XDA anymore. (I was using some german releases here for quite some time)
I don't know much about ROM cooking, since I'm a SAP and Web-Deveopment guy, but I always asking myself:
Why is ROM cooking not like open source stuff?
Why is everyone/every group cooking it's own little stuff?
Why not working together on few versions to provide a ultimate, stable, bugfree, nice documented and "perfect" ROM?
Newbies are totally overloaded with 1337 ROM releases, which they should take? Where to find help for your decision? Not everyone has the time/KnowHow to try out 5+ ROMs...
There are so many many advantages if they would do so:
+ bugfixes are done only one time, not many times for many different roms
+ bugfixes are always up to date
+ mistakes are not done multiple times
+ more manpower to test/optimize/develop roms (since everyone works together)
+ clean and clear buglist and release history
+ bugtracking (easier for community to post bugs via bugtracker, easier to develop for cookers)
+ better for newbies (a stronger/bigger community is maybe not a bad thing?) - people know what to download (stable/beta/nightly builds releases - maybe light and full ROMs)
+ many many more, maybe even better reasons
And you can still release ROMs weekly and in multiple version (nightly builds, betas, alphas) but you also can make rock solid milestone releases for the community.
My feeling is SOMETIMES (not in all cases!), that cookers try to compete against each other, than working together.
As I said, its just a feeling... nothing personal against anyone.
Of course there are also disadvantages in organizing such a "structure", but in the end if a cooker would stop developing and invest this time into organizing the rest in to a developer group, that would be a benefit everyone. Means, a bit less "development power", but a lot more efficient developing. The big picture counts.
Just wanted to start a discussion about this thing. It is not like I'm totally experienced in this topic.
Because to be honest... much of the work (which is great and I really appreciate) is done multiple multiple times.
And many many ROMs are more or less the same. Different languages and "feature" levels like Light/Full would be sufficient.

It does seem like a good idea. Certainly, it would allow the chefs to develop an amazing Manilla X1 ROM, and a non-Manilla ROM, 6.1 ROM and a 6.5 ROM, light/full versions and other languages quite effectively. However, I'm not sure how much the chefs would like it. It would however, be excellent for the community. Would be interesting to hear the chefs views on this.

rom are developed really fast. too much people, too much organizations will slow down development.
most part of developers has trusted betatester and bug solver, working in small groups. afaik, looking at whole forum productions, this model works pretty well

yes I have the same question
if we all put our knowledge / findings together @ the cheffs share centre thread it would be A high mile achievement

guap said:
rom are developed really fast. too much people, too much organizations will slow down development.
most part of developers has trusted betatester and bug solver, working in small groups. afaik, looking at whole forum productions, this model works pretty well
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I'm not too sure if you can call this situation "well". I would say it "kinda works".
And yes, in the short run, the development is slower, but in the long run the development is faster, because it is more efficient and there is less work which is done multiple times. As I said, it is the big picture you have to see, in the long run this would be much better.
Additionally to that "new" cooks who maybe have a new bugfix and want to release that, they have to do many of the other fixes again to release a new ROM (additionally to that they lack experience and will make "new" bugs).
In a single project, they simply post their fix, and the main developers check and integrate the fix ... done. Next build it is included.
And that's much faster!! And it is double checked for mistakes for more stable releases.
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For the user it is unthinkable to update the ROM every week. There is a need for some "stable"-like ROM for general users.
The level of final release ROMs here are more or less like "Firefox RC" or even "Beta" Versions.

this is not the 1st time someone like u come up with this......loads of ppl had the same request. even i saw atleast a couple of such thread in this x1 thread!!!
but they neva work in most cases.....i only saw one such successful project!!!

That's not a bad idea at all.
I have been active for sometime with XDA equivalent for AVM Fritz modems (ip-phone-forum), together they made a compiler tool (Freetz.org) for all avm fritz modems, users download one tool, launch and select what features they want in their router, and build a new firmware/ROM, and there is a huge forum for support.
well, i don't say to make such a tool (while it will be so interesting to have, at least one per smartphone model)
having a xda organized in the way mentioned, many bugs can be resolved easily.
in the current state, a newbie will have much difficulty to read a 200 page thread about some custom ROM to find that in post 1232 describes the issue he encountered and later has been fixed in post 1325....
i was going to ask about making a sub forum per each custom rom, with threads divided per subjects, so if someone encounter an SMS issue will have to read one thread completely about sms issues rather than a very long one about all issues in that custom rom.....
if something could be done, then it will become much easier for everybody !!!

great idea.
There is one issue though: people have strong personal flavors of ROMs. Some might want a fast and lean ROM while others might want a mighty one.
I guess some kind of sophisticated branching is needed to accommodate these requests

yes, different tastes, but same bugs
I am down on a common knowledge database, willing to share and learn

It would be great indeed to have a common project but all chefs would need to aim to the same release that would take time to come to a common design and implementation.
Hope this can happen though!

Maybe a cooperation of some chefs would help to reach something here.

mercuriussan said:
And yes, in the short run, the development is slower, but in the long run the development is faster, because it is more efficient and there is less work which is done multiple times. As I said, it is the big picture you have to see, in the long run this would be much better.
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The problem is there is no long run for rom cooking.
Most of us (users or cook) seldom use a single phone longer than a year and we moved to a next device and start everything from the ground up again.
Even you keep the same device for a long time, newer WM build or other components comes very frequently and there's always a tradeoff between "new features" vs "stability". And every cook has their own perference and it natural to see varies roms among cooks. Therefore, it will never have an easy solution for rom user.
For cooks, we could open threads for individual components and work together. I did open a threads for TF3D v2 (landscape), and HD Camera as a project base, and Itje already create a chef discussion thread and I think this model works pretty well for cooks.

agree with jackleung in some points
I've created a Topic for cooking with windows mobile 6.5, too.
Everyone was invited to discuss their bugs and help each other.
But none like it really.
Or none got bugs

Basically what everyone wants is a ROM with PURE Windows Mobile as Microsoft gives it to manufacturers(No HTC, Sonyericsson stuff), cabs/packages of different applications and a program that combines all of them together according to individual needs.

Interesting debate - lifted for the wider audience

Guys, this was a response to a post from me and my subsequent response to it posted in the XannyTech ROM thread. I thought it would be best to open this to a wider community as I am sure many feel as I do, but are unsure how to better the operation as it currently stands.
As I specify at the end of the post, I am definitely NOT attacking the chefs, just trying to get the best possible solution for the vast majority of people and giving my reasoning behind it.
dafunk2 said:
Mate, I don't agree with you.
I know that these are things told and told again.....but:
- Did you install additional software?
- Did you try to uninstall any additional software?
- Did you try to do an Hard Reset?
- Did you do an Hard Reset after Flashing?
- Did you try to re-flash the rom?
- Did you try to download again the rom?
You can see by other people's feedbacks that this rom is probably the best, performing and stable one, and you cannot of sure tell that this rom is "bits and pieces untested in it", because the cooker and his team of betatesters of course cannot test anything under ANY circumsance and ANY configuration and ANY additional software installed and ANY...and ANY...and ANY....
I feel to tell you these few words because I don't like who don't respect other's hard work. Did you noticed how many releases is Xanny doing? And every release is better then the last...so if you are experiencing problems or probably bugs, please give respect to the cooker and explain in a civil and constructive way wich the bugs are, and you can be sure that the cooker will fix as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that the rom MUST be valued "nude and crude" like the cooker post it, and not after installed a miriad of sofwares in it.
Maybe it's not your case.......
.....but I'm bored to see stupid posts like your.
Escuse me in advance if I'm too "direct" with you, I respect anyone that respect other people.
Ciao from Italy
dafunk
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OK, firstly I take no offence to you being direct - it's sometimes the best way to be
Secondly, I have voiced my issues in a constructive and respectful manner within this thread before and many others from many other Chefs, but with little or sometimes no response.
I suppose we have to understand that:
these guys are doing this for nothing. I do!
these guys put a lot of effort and time into it - I do!
that these guys and testers cannot iron out every bug - I do!
Now,Chefs must understand a few bits and pieces also.
If they are going to cook ROM's then:
they need to be VERY precise about the issues they KNOW are resident
they need to understand that people willing to use these ROM's still want a fully functioning phone
they need to understand that fixing a bug in ROMv1 by releasing ROMv2 is all well and good, UNLESS it breaks something that was working fine in ROMv1 (often the case)
I can't emphasise enough the respect I have for these people, but I do think that we are getting more quantity than quality. There are a number of issues (see bug tracker) with some of the later ROM's which quiet frankly were broken as a result of a new recipe.....working before and broken after is breaking the golden rule of a new software release!
At the end of all this I urge people to understand what I'm saying and not take it as an attack against the Chefs as this is most definitely NOT what this is.

oh and to add, I have tried flashing via USB and flashing via SD Card, and hard resetting a number of times after flash. As for not installing any software....I'm struggling to see the relevance of that suggestion. Do you think HTC test TouchFlo3D against every piece of software developed for the platform they implement their software on to check for compatibility? No.....what they do is adhere to coding standards and practices using certified API's and the like to make sure that 99% of the time everything should be fine.
Now I'm not suggesting the same level of testing for Chefs, but what I AM saying is that if these ROM's are basically tweaked stock ROM's (which the newer Leo ROMs are now it's live) then surely the inherent testing has been done and issues should be minimal. That being the case, why are there so many posts on cooked ROM threads stating issues?
Again, not being antagonistic, just trying to point something out. I appreciate the chefs, but I still want my phone to operate.

I can just offer my noob experience, I have encountered apps made for winmo6.1 to cause problems for winmo6.5. and often times custom made mods by fellow users such as tweaks and graphics, mods to tf3d etc often causes problems, maybe not for first release, but when a new piece of software comes, like now manila 2.5 and so many new releases, what was perfect yesterday causes major bugs today.
And as far as cooking a rom, i have had such thing happened to me that when just updating one package in the rom, the whole thing will not start, just a newer version of the same app. So every new sys, every new manila edition, every new modification is very possible to cause some new conflict, noticeable or not.
I think if we want to have the latest software availible on the market, you will never have that officially, then this is the way to go, and there will always be some sort of conflicts minor or major, the good thing is chefs that are willing to work to improve, workaround fix etc, i like xanny, and miri and several others who are present in their threads and actually communicating trying to solve the issues, some just post a rom and you wont hear from them again until next release. But everything here is from free will, you chose to flash a rom you do take a risk. But we have some good backup tools and autoconfig tools so flashing is not so very timeconsuming
But i have had stockroms freeze on me, lagging and very irritable, but hey i am glad being able to have custom roms, every chef bring their own flavor to the phone, and if you dislike all you can always start cooking yourself then you can twist and turn it however you prefer

Thanks for your input - I was fearing a bit of a flame war when I posted so I'm happy that the first person to reply was a mature one
I suppose you are right from the point of view that having the latest software means that the likelihood is that it will not be officially tested and verified. I just wish that I wasn't always "waiting for the next problem" to occur.
If I was really bothered I suppose I'd go back to Stock and make do, but then I'd CAB my phone up to breaking point with tweaks! - lose lose situation perhaps

the way i look at it, we should only be using stock ROMs. Cookers then put in the time to create great ROMs for us with the features of newer devices, allowing us to get more out of our devices. They ask for little in return, so i dont really think its fair to criticise their products, because were it not for them, we'd be using just stock ROMs. Just my way of looking at it

Wiggz said:
I suppose we have to understand that:
these guys are doing this for nothing. I do!
these guys put a lot of effort and time into it - I do!
that these guys and testers cannot iron out every bug - I do!
Now,Chefs must understand a few bits and pieces also.
If they are going to cook ROM's then:
they need to be VERY precise about the issues they KNOW are resident
they need to understand that people willing to use these ROM's still want a fully functioning phone
they need to understand that fixing a bug in ROMv1 by releasing ROMv2 is all well and good, UNLESS it breaks something that was working fine in ROMv1 (often the case)
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It seems you don't really understand the 3 points you made or else you wouldn't have made this post.
No-one is forcing you to use any ROM other than stock. And telling the chefs how to make their ROMs is just stupid, it's a completely optional service that these people are providing. Why should they be "VERY precise"? It's their ROM, if you don't like it, get another one or go back to stock.
I'm pretty positive they understand we want a fully functional phone, not sure what your point is here.
If you don't like the new version of a ROM then don't upgrade, or try it then go back to the old version.
Although you say you appreciate what they're doing, you come across as ungrateful that their free service is not up to your standards...

scotland101 said:
It seems you don't really understand the 3 points you made or else you wouldn't have made this post.
No-one is forcing you to use any ROM other than stock. And telling the chefs how to make their ROMs is just stupid, it's a completely optional service that these people are doing. Why should they be "VERY precise"? It's their ROM, if you don't like it, get another one.
Although you say you appreciate what their doing, you come across as ungrateful that their free service is not up to your standards...
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I appreciate your point, and I can wholeheartedly see how my points could be perceived as aggressive towards chefs.
However, what I am trying to say is that whilst I understand I "don't need to use" these ROMs...why would anyone go to the time and effort to create a ROM if:
they didn't want people to use them, and
they didn't want it to be the best ROM out there with the fewest issues
I am simply saying that a few chefs are content with spewing out ROM after ROM without actually realising that people would prefer a recent-ish build release which was stable, and fast over a brand new ROM which was buggy.

personal opinion
Everyone must know that what these guys are doing is from their free time, and no one is forced to use their ROM`s. Who do use them, is doing that by free will. It may be that one of ROM is not that good that another, but you can go anytime to stock ROM, or the one you had before (like I did some times).
What I`m trying to say is that all we have to do is to say “thank you” to these guys who make possible that we all have a better device.
Keep up the good work and I salute you!

hehehe all very amusing, how you've made this into an issue I don't know...
chefs don't need to "understand" anything, they post it here with as much or as little description as they like!
luckily this forum is packed full of support tips faqs etc that there's really no need to ask chefs to be "very precise" and other such nonsense.
chefs can "spew" as much as they like, what the general public "prefer" is really not an issue, you are lucky that some of them reply and give you the help they do at all, in fact Xanny happens to give a lot of support for his roms and I can understand why he might feel just a little tired at some of the repetitive questions etc that get asked in his thread.
The fact the chefs reply at all should be help enough, you imply that you put "time and effort" into testing the roms...well that's lovely but it doesn't give you any extra gold stars.
This is not an attack against you, but you "need to understand" that there's nothing the chefs "need to understand" or do in order to please you or anyone else who take the time to test the roms, because noone is asking you to.

I think this pretty pointless thread has ran its purpose IMO. I believe all chef's put a lot of work into their roms and are trying to acheive the best rom, with the latest builds with no bugs. This is a hard enough task without people complaining about issues all the time which in general most chef's try to eradicate. No one wants bugs including chef's, but with newer builds appearing all the time, its inevitable you will get issues as these builds where not planned for the HD.
Think enough has been said on this subject
Thread closed

REQUEST for ROM WIKI page listing details

I am requesting that the powers that be create a ROM Wiki Page where cooks can enter the vital stats of their roms in a table/spreadsheet format so that innocent rom flashers such as myself can do direct comparisons between roms with out having to wade through hundreds of pages posts etc.
And I also request that chefs use this page and follow the table structure. And that you update your rom on the wiki page when a new version comes out.
Please!
This part may be too ambitious, but I would also like to see on the table a column for user score. Could be a simple 5 star system. Each rom there could have a link to a brief review containing questions about usability, stability, battery life etc.. Graded on a 5 star scale. All the answers would be averaged together and would be reflected on the above mentioned table as a simple score

cameraddict said:
I am requesting that the powers that be create a ROM Wiki Page where cooks can enter the vital stats of their roms in a table/spreadsheet format so that innocent rom flashers such as myself can do direct comparisons between roms with out having to wade through hundreds of pages posts etc.
And I also request that chefs use this page and follow the table structure. And that you update your rom on the wiki page when a new version comes out.
Please!
This part may be too ambitious, but I would also like to see on the table a column for user score. Could be a simple 5 star system. Each rom there could have a link to a brief review containing questions about usability, stability, battery life etc.. Graded on a 5 star scale. All the answers would be averaged together and would be reflected on the above mentioned table as a simple score
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To me the thing about that is a ROM can run totally different on each device and the Roms are changing every day so i think it would be to hard to keep up with it all and i do not think a chef would like his or her ROM being put next to another ROM so see if the ROM is doing good or bad i know thats what it wont be for but that will happen and it takes me 5 Min's a day to scan through the Roms and see how they are doing i doubt if any chefs would agree to it and it takes all there time to do i new rom so they dont need any extra work in double posting it just my 2pence worh

I hear your concerns. Perhaps just scrap the idea about the rating system.
But if the chef put the basic info for his rom up we could see and compare to determine what roms we may want to use. Like What build they use, whether they used manila 2.1 or 2.5. What programs they add or subtract, what dialer, what page pool setting... etc.. things like these. I am just looking for a good starting point to do my research on which rom I want to use.
There are just too many out there for a person to wade through to find the base set of features they want. I run a small business, and use my phone daily in it. I don't have them time to read about every single rom. I will read about a few though. And it would help to narrow down which ones I look at if I know what features they focus on.
Once the wiki table was set up it would require very little to enter basic data and to keep it loosely updated. As I said, I am just looking for a basic idea of the direction each chef takes their rom.

Seriously? Nobody else thinks this is a good idea? Everyone likes searching through dozens of topics, and wading through Hundreds of pages of replies to find basic data about a rom, and some user feedback? And does everyone here prefer to flash every rom under the sun to find the right one for them?
Don't get me wrong, in my spare time I am a gadget/tech lover. I love to tinker... again- if I have the time.
But there really does have to be a better way to narrowing down the list of potential roms one might want to try. I don't mind trying a few.....but not all.
Any body else with me on this? Or do I stand(type) alone?
Thanks

Yep I support this as well (That said it's fun to go through all these pages ehehe)

I totally agree with you. I am very surprised that this does not exist yet. Our great cookers are putting a lot of efforts into their ROM, but it's no use if we cannot find those.
The point would not be to rate the ROMs because everybody is not looking for the same kind of software. Brief informations like the WM build, the Sense version (if installed), the language and a small description field would be very nice already.

Thanks Alcibiade!
Later

Its a good idea. But anyone can update WIKI! So why not take the initiative?

ai6908:
I will look into it, didn't know that just anybody could edit/create wiki pages... I don't have a whole lot of time... so it might be a while.
Hopefully if I do this the cooks will participate.
Thanx

cameraddict said:
Seriously? Nobody else thinks this is a good idea? Everyone likes searching through dozens of topics, and wading through Hundreds of pages of replies to find basic data about a rom, and some user feedback? And does everyone here prefer to flash every rom under the sun to find the right one for them?
Don't get me wrong, in my spare time I am a gadget/tech lover. I love to tinker... again- if I have the time.
But there really does have to be a better way to narrowing down the list of potential roms one might want to try. I don't mind trying a few.....but not all.
Any body else with me on this? Or do I stand(type) alone?
Thanks
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you are worried about how much of YOUR TIME that YOU SPEND trying to find the right rom have you ever thought about how much time we chefs spend creating these roms? i can promise that flashing a few roms and reading through some threads is nothing in comparison to cooking a good rom. im speaking for myself here, but i think its pretty sad that you ask us to do MORE than we already do....its not like this is our job and we are on your payroll. make a wiki page if you want, but i will never participate.

and end of discussion...lol

Rom reviews

Hello all Chefs and Rom users, I wanted to know how would you like if someone started a thread or site where they do in depth reviews on roms,chefs,and apps for htc phones? Would you find this useful and would you be willing to post your roms on a site that does this? Would you be interested in paying for adverstisement? Would you like for a donation link to be placed in your review or section on the site? Rom users, how useful do you think this site will be? I am open to all comments and questions. Thank to all in advance.

I think that would be a great idea, especially for the people who arent sure which rom they want or what they want on a rom or the people that are new to this scene. Maybe the site could include a list of things that are included in the roms. Such as does it have the latest .net compact framwork and things like that. Also it could be broken down into which roms would be best for which versions of the rhodium. Like T-mobile, at&t, sprint, verizon. And there could be a rating system letting users rate the roms. Just a few ideas to throw at you.

Someone tried one of these threads here. I don't think it was useful at all.
My suggestion to noobs is this. Rather than learn about flashing different ROMs, learn how to quickly and efficiently backup and restore your device. Once you got it all down to about 15-30minutes, you can flash every single ROM out there and see for yourself which is right for you.

ohyeahar said:
Someone tried one of these threads here. I don't think it was useful at all.
My suggestion to noobs is this. Rather than learn about flashing different ROMs, learn how to quickly and efficiently backup and restore your device. Once you got it all down to about 15-30minutes, you can flash every single ROM out there and see for yourself which is right for you.
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yeah i second this. The key thing about roms is that they differ in appeal for one person to the next. Most roms these days are nice and fast (certainly faster than stock) and so the additional factors may involve apps included, graphics and other features and although these are listed within the chefs thread as screenshots and lists, you only really know a rom is right for you once its in your hands and personally test-driven!
Agreed, it would be good to have an objective list of features of all current roms and comments of them in one place, however the info is already out there leaving the rest of the work up to the user!

ohyeahar said:
Someone tried one of these threads here. I don't think it was useful at all.
My suggestion to noobs is this. Rather than learn about flashing different ROMs, learn how to quickly and efficiently backup and restore your device. Once you got it all down to about 15-30minutes, you can flash every single ROM out there and see for yourself which is right for you.
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I agree... With a UC cable ROM, a PC registry editor (CeRegistry, MobileRegistryEditor) and maybe SDConfig Builder along with PIM Backup I have it automated down to about 10 minutes...

i like it
as i have been flashing roms since the release of the original htc touch and have owned and flashed, hacked, and optimized just about every smartphone that has came out in america and some that havent, i consider myself a veteran and even i like to sometimes see how people feel about certain roms before trying them, i might be looking for a rom that does a specific thing very well and sometimes would like to know those strengths by reading about them first. thats just me, i dont think it would be a bad idea

antdawg702 said:
as i have been flashing roms since the release of the original htc touch and have owned and flashed, hacked, and optimized just about every smartphone that has came out in america and some that havent, i consider myself a veteran and even i like to sometimes see how people feel about certain roms before trying them, i might be looking for a rom that does a specific thing very well and sometimes would like to know those strengths by reading about them first. thats just me, i dont think it would be a bad idea
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I know what you mean. And I understand the intentions of everyone who starts one of these threads. But consider this:
-There are new ROM chefs popping up all the time.
-New releases of ROMs with multiple flavors are literally coming at a daily rate.
Who's going to keep track of all the chefs? Each chef may also release multiple ROMs. Who's going to keep track of all the ROM versions?
It's an impossible task, unless each chef voluntarily goes to a common thread to post about their own work. But frankly, I would rather the chef not waste their time doing that. I would rather them allocate their time to their ROM development.
Probably no one is going to argue that a review thread is a bad idea. It's a great idea in theory. But it just doesn't work in practice.

Why have a thread, wasn't he talking about a site akin to having a profile, like some kind of social networking site where each chef is regitered and releases their ROMS there?
ROMS can be reviewed, i.e. comments , requests etc

geejayoh said:
Why have a thread, wasn't he talking about a site akin to having a profile, like some kind of social networking site where each chef is regitered and releases their ROMS there?
ROMS can be reviewed, i.e. comments , requests etc
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Haha, this social networking site you're referring to exists. It's here at this forum! Each ROM thread is a profile. Each chef is registered here and the ROMs are released here. Users are free to review, comment, and make requests in the threads

Not a bad idea
antdawg702 said:
as i have been flashing roms since the release of the original htc touch and have owned and flashed, hacked, and optimized just about every smartphone that has came out in america and some that havent, i consider myself a veteran and even i like to sometimes see how people feel about certain roms before trying them, i might be looking for a rom that does a specific thing very well and sometimes would like to know those strengths by reading about them first. thats just me, i dont think it would be a bad idea
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I am in the same boat I flash roms all the time, and love this forum, It would be nice to have an alternate way to read about rom,chefs,apps,Htc phones,rumors.
Something that goes more in depth.

not a social networking site
geejayoh said:
Why have a thread, wasn't he talking about a site akin to having a profile, like some kind of social networking site where each chef is regitered and releases their ROMS there?
ROMS can be reviewed, i.e. comments , requests etc
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Click to collapse
I am talking about a site,not really a social networking site, because that will just grow too huge and make it hard for some users to be able to get the info they are looking for. I am thinking more like a blog. Where you can search info and find different articles. There would be polls on roms. The rom may be reviewed with general info and people can leave comments. I just think it may be a way to narrow down this info for users to easily get to. Some are intimidated by huge sites. The site will have other info ,but will also lean more towards roms and chefs. The site would benefit rom users and chefs.

cant cover all roms
ohyeahar said:
I know what you mean. And I understand the intentions of everyone who starts one of these threads. But consider this:
-There are new ROM chefs popping up all the time.
-New releases of ROMs with multiple flavors are literally coming at a daily rate.
Who's going to keep track of all the chefs? Each chef may also release multiple ROMs. Who's going to keep track of all the ROM versions?
It's an impossible task, unless each chef voluntarily goes to a common thread to post about their own work. But frankly, I would rather the chef not waste their time doing that. I would rather them allocate their time to their ROM development.
Probably no one is going to argue that a review thread is a bad idea. It's a great idea in theory. But it just doesn't work in practice.
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The site would not cover all roms,but would try to cover major releases and maybe the roms of chefs who want to link there roms to the site.

Thank You
Thank You to all who participated in this poll. Anyone who have not participated yet can still participate. It seems most members would enjoy a site like this one. I have updated my signature with the latest roms I am running. Thank you all!

ohyeahar said:
Haha, this social networking site you're referring to exists. It's here at this forum! Each ROM thread is a profile. Each chef is registered here and the ROMs are released here. Users are free to review, comment, and make requests in the threads
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Reading from 40 to 400+ pages of a thread just to see what the rom is about isn't something I look forward to. I would like it if they were categorized. For example, search filters for all the roms that have sense 2.1 or all the roms that have 2.5, etc. Roms that are made specifically for a carrier would also be a nice filter. I also think a really good idea would be to make a program with the purpose of benchmarking a rom just to try and test the speed of how fast the rom really is. There are many more things that can be done. I think thewingster.com is a great example of this, but it can be taken to another level to make it much easier for users. There are many roms not posted on that site, but the popular ones are there.

I agree with some of the ideas here - sometimes it's just not feasible to wade through hundreds of pages ... For those who come here maybe once a week like me, this would be a good way of getting up to date quickly and maybe some of the n00b questions wouldn't happen as a result? (even I know how to get AT&T keyboard and my country doesn't have AT&T )
Maybe an extension of the current XDA wiki? And promote the wiki a bit more on the front page. The threads as they are in the forums would still serve the same basic purpose - feedback and debate etc.
The obvious question though is "who's gonna do it?" as the information would get outdated fast, and we can't expect the cooks to do it as they do enough already. And the people in the best position to do this (ie. the hardcore guys who come here every day) may not want to.
It's an interesting idea though.

MadBeef said:
I agree with some of the ideas here - sometimes it's just not feasible to wade through hundreds of pages ... For those who come here maybe once a week like me, this would be a good way of getting up to date quickly and maybe some of the n00b questions wouldn't happen as a result? (even I know how to get AT&T keyboard and my country doesn't have AT&T )
Maybe an extension of the current XDA wiki? And promote the wiki a bit more on the front page. The threads as they are in the forums would still serve the same basic purpose - feedback and debate etc.
The obvious question though is "who's gonna do it?" as the information would get outdated fast, and we can't expect the cooks to do it as they do enough already. And the people in the best position to do this (ie. the hardcore guys who come here every day) may not want to.
It's an interesting idea though.
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The site would have to be setup where anyone can add there own review. It takes user input to grow a site.

accent2k2 said:
The site would have to be setup where anyone can add there own review. It takes user input to grow a site.
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Yeah absolutely, but there would have to be at least some form of moderation / approval / cleanup process otherwise you will just get 500 comments that are "HAW DO I GET MY NOKIA TO DO TAHT" or "I BRICKED MY PHOEN COS I DIDNT READ" or "D/Ling NOW KAKAKA!!!!11" etc. (much like some of the threads here) And then a team has to put all this in place, keep the version numbers up-to-date, put screenshots up, etc. A news feed available via RSS would be great Remember that most cooks have at least 4 different ROMs available for each device at a time. (Manila 2.1, 2.5, Titanium, AT&T dialer, WM6.5, WM6.5.1-3 etc)
Right now there must be 20 - 30 different ROMs available just for the TP2. Someone with some level of trust would need to be in charge. To quote an old phrase, "Garbage In, Garbage Out" And it would always have to be up-to-date otherwise there is no point.
Don't get me wrong it would be good to see something like this, it's a great idea. Kinda like what would happen if there was a train wreck involving the wiki and the forum haha but I think you may be underestimating the amount of work it will take.
I've often thought it would be better to have multiple threads per ROM, one for reviews, one for bugs, one for general chat, etc. Maybe even a sub-forum for each cook or each ROM.
I dunno I never said I had the answers Just throwing ideas round

MadBeef said:
Yeah absolutely, but there would have to be at least some form of moderation / approval / cleanup process otherwise you will just get 500 comments that are "HAW DO I GET MY NOKIA TO DO TAHT" or "I BRICKED MY PHOEN COS I DIDNT READ" or "D/Ling NOW KAKAKA!!!!11" etc. (much like some of the threads here) And then a team has to put all this in place, keep the version numbers up-to-date, put screenshots up, etc. A news feed available via RSS would be great Remember that most cooks have at least 4 different ROMs available for each device at a time. (Manila 2.1, 2.5, Titanium, AT&T dialer, WM6.5, WM6.5.1-3 etc)
Right now there must be 20 - 30 different ROMs available just for the TP2. Someone with some level of trust would need to be in charge. To quote an old phrase, "Garbage In, Garbage Out" And it would always have to be up-to-date otherwise there is no point.
Don't get me wrong it would be good to see something like this, it's a great idea. Kinda like what would happen if there was a train wreck involving the wiki and the forum haha but I think you may be underestimating the amount of work it will take.
I've often thought it would be better to have multiple threads per ROM, one for reviews, one for bugs, one for general chat, etc. Maybe even a sub-forum for each cook or each ROM.
I dunno I never said I had the answers Just throwing ideas round
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Makes since thanks

Need a standardized way to compare ROMs

With hundreds (guessing) ROMs now posted for the TP2 is there a way to get a gauge on which ones are better at what things. WITHOUT LOOKING AT EVERY ROM POST. I want to upgrade from 6.1 but every post ROM I have looked at seems to have some caveat about this or that not working (GPS, MMS, etc.). Its very difficult to contrast and compare the different ROMs. Maybe we can develop a form that devs can complete when uploading a ROM to give a clear, concise, and standardized view of the features and caveats on their ROMs. This would make it much easier to decide which one to use.
Thanks to everyone that has ever posted a meaning message to this forum.
EDIT: I am not complaining about the caveats. This is about the information that we need to know about the ROMs available. I want to make an informed decision on which caveats are acceptable to me. Sorry if it reads poorly.

Yeah most cooked roms dont have near to polish of a stock rom. However, most of these guys build these roms for basically free. The "scene" is drivin by its member so if you want something done that noone else is doing you should work to make it happen yourself. Its not like your a customer and get to complain...
Good idea for sure tho.

Great
Thats a great idea I hope that it happens.

I know what you mean, and I agree with you to a certain extent. When I first came here, I was totally confused and bewildered by the number of different ROMs. There's certainly no way you can read the whole thread for each ROM, there's way too much.
I think you'll find the ROMs are a lot more stable than you think. If you want to stick with stability, I'd go with Sense (TouchFlo3D) 2.1, not 2.5. But that still gives you plenty of choice. Have a look at some screenshots, see if there's one that looks nice to you and seems to contain the features you need, try flashing it and see how you go. If you don't like it, you can easily change and flash a different one.
Or another approach is to look at the threads which seem the most "popular" and try one of those, banking on there being a lot of people to help you, in the same situation, and that "so many people" can't be wrong ?

Jaykno said:
Yeah most cooked roms dont have near to polish of a stock rom. However, most of these guys build these roms for basically free. The "scene" is drivin by its member so if you want something done that noone else is doing you should work to make it happen yourself. Its not like your a customer and get to complain...
Good idea for sure tho.
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Whoo Dude... back off. Im not complaining about anyones work. Nor am I knocking ANY of the work done here. This is simply a feeler to see if the cooks would be up to it standardizing the info about their work and if its a good idea or not. Notice I said "Maybe WE can develop...", that includes me.

Good Idea
I think u right there. The cooks are done a fantastic jobs their to provide us with such amount of their free time and fabulous ROMS. However, each cook choose a different orientation for their ROM, i mean some want to have max free mem, others go for esthetics, etc etc.
It would be nice if we can have a sort of specs (hmmm well i hope u get the idea here) that we can check to know which type of ROM it is, which is working or not and so on and so on.

If I created a list (word or excel) of all features and functions of the TP2 then had the cooks complete them for the ROMs and send them to me. I could then compile them all into a database that would display ROMs side by side with a feature list checkbox table. (No sense making the cooks do alot of initial data entry... that stuff sucks. ) We could then make direct comparisons of each one. All they would need to do is keep me updated with the latest ROM info and I can keep the DB updated. Once the feature list is stabilized I could turn on the feature where they could be able to update the info themselves.
I don't mind doing the development of this if the cooks are up for this idea. I can't cook a ROM but I can code a db/website.