Database Develop

StarCraft on Android!

Apparently somebody has been working on porting Starcraft to android right underneath our noses! Click Here! for screenshots.
This could be interesting.

Is it really that hard to write the word "starcraft" in the searchbox ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=509691

I didn't see it down there; my bad. Is it really that hard to be polite?

well i can't wait until it gets done. i would never put my phone down again when it is lol

omgg this would be amazing when its completed! Id be willing to help, but im not a developer or anything lol

If we could get Starcraft on the G1 that would be amazing. And if thats possible it should be possible to port Diablo to the G1. Now THAT would be awesome.

Gimpeh said:
Apparently somebody has been working on porting Starcraft to android right underneath our noses! Click Here! for screenshots.
This could be interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm how is this legal? AFAIK, starcraft isn't open source and blizzard still owns the copyright

Someone was actually working on a hombrew version of Starcraft for the DS. Im glad someone is actually making one for the G1!!!

[email protected] said:
Hmmm how is this legal? AFAIK, starcraft isn't open source and blizzard still owns the copyright
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its called a clean room reverse engineer, which is totally legal. As long as the dev. has no inside knowledge, if he codes the engine to be compatible, then it is legal (code wise).
However, he also would have to change names/text, and also regenerate all the image/music/etc content (as those are also most likely copy writted).
Now, in the end, the question really is will Blizzard care if he reuses names/graphics, and the answer is, probably not, provided he does not try to charge for it.

bakgwailo said:
Its called a clean room reverse engineer, which is totally legal. As long as the dev. has no inside knowledge, if he codes the engine to be compatible, then it is legal (code wise).
However, he also would have to change names/text, and also regenerate all the image/music/etc content (as those are also most likely copy writted).
Now, in the end, the question really is will Blizzard care if he reuses names/graphics, and the answer is, probably not, provided he does not try to charge for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, but so far from looking at it all the graphics and everything look the same and he's currently calling it starcraft. Also I wouldn't be so sure about them not caring, if this picks up any kind of speed at all(which I think we all know it would if released to the public) Blizzard would likely shut it down and/or at the very least demand royalties. Even before it reaches release, I've seen major companies like Nintendo demand project be shut down for copyright reasons even though they're just small community projects. At any rate, I'll be interested to see if this makes it to release and will certainly play it if it does.

Well, but Blizzard isn't Nintendo.
And this only runs on Android... and as long as they have no plan for this this is not more than free promotion in my eyes. And luckily blizzard is very user friendly.. we'll see... anyway atm the project is stopped.

speoples20 said:
If we could get Starcraft on the G1 that would be amazing. And if thats possible it should be possible to port Diablo to the G1. Now THAT would be awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, every now and then I will talk to James Beckingham, the author of Pocket Hexen II. He's currently working on a Diablo 1 port for windows mobile

bakgwailo said:
Now, in the end, the question really is will Blizzard care if he reuses names/graphics, and the answer is, probably not, provided he does not try to charge for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blizzard WILL care. Starcraft is a very active game and blizzard is known for defending their copyrights. Even if they didn't, they are still legally obligated to defend their intellectual property.

If a dev team wants to take it over
email
[email protected]
this would be a huge game

http://www.drodin.com/stratagus there u can find it

Wait so someone has Starcraft working on android??

htcjikelly said:
Wait so someone has Starcraft working on android??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep i played it with stratagus, but cant run campaign mode, anyone did?

Also no sound =/
Would be great multiplaying original Starcraft =D

Well I have a starcraft on my HD2 with Windows Mobile that works well. I wonder if they should try to get together on it.

Kang is an adjective and a verb..But what does it mean?

I know this is a stupid question, but I see "kang" pop up in a lot of things related to Cyanogen and I guess lifting things without credit? I'm not sure.
What's the history behind it?

i think this might get you going in the right direction:
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/home/android-soap-opera-ultimate-droid
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/home/the-good-guys-win

I've also know what it was all about, and everything that happened. But I still don't know what kang means. Those posts don't help. I've always just assumed it was a word someone made up and it means 'stolen' or something.
Only official definition I can find is:
a masonry or earthen platform at one end of a room, heated in winter by fires underneath and spread with mats for sleeping.
Pretty sure that's not it.

bfspider said:
i think this might get you going in the right direction:
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/home/android-soap-opera-ultimate-droid
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/home/the-good-guys-win
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh! I remember that! I guess I didn't read closely enough into the first post. Thanks

Kang means to take somebody else's work and put it to good use. Credit is expected but occasionally not given.

"Ganked" is the more common Internet term, meaning the same thing.

From Urban Dictionary:
Kanged
The act of having your meeting hijacked, in favor of a convoluted and meandering presentation of impractical concepts that can never be implemented. Also a term for a discussion that impacts you, but does not include you.
"I got Kanged at the new business presentation yesterday"

lnjryan said:
From Urban Dictionary:
Kanged
The act of having your meeting hijacked, in favor of a convoluted and meandering presentation of impractical concepts that can never be implemented. Also a term for a discussion that impacts you, but does not include you.
"I got Kanged at the new business presentation yesterday"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps, but that's not what it means here...

didn't it have something to do with KingKlick92?
i might have missed it. but i remember they started saying kanged after some dispute with him.
::shrug:::

not that again!
I like the term "Gaffled", but that may be just an "urban thang"...

it means to steal.
oh and check this out:
http://wootroot.com/cyandroid/

agentkalaw said:
it means to steal.
oh and check this out:
http://wootroot.com/cyandroid/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No man, it is to take and make better. CM Kangs HTC APIs and Source to produce a better API or Source. CM intentionally avoids using anything closed source as that IS stealing.

its the same thing as a "snarfblack".

Obviously its an acronym that stands for 'killin all nexus gangtas', and when something gets kanged, it gets owned.
werd.

http://www.absolutelyandroid.com/new-cyanogen-nightlies-feature-additional-pr0tip/

I wasn't going to respond to this since it was so old, but it seems there are many different ideas on what KANGs actually are. They are just unofficial builds. Ones that use the CM codebase and are then compiled. They can have additional patches included, but generally are closely linked to CyanogenMod. One of the more popular KANG builds was Fitsnugly's Gigglebread. He would take the codebase and add a few patches that looked interesting/promising and compile it for others to test out.
CM releases their code opensource under the Apache license. While this does mean that anyone can take that code and do whatever they want with it (including removing any and all signs on where it came from), it is generally an accepted practice to acknowledge where the work originally came from. KANGs are perfectly acceptable (and encouraged), but the CM dev team would just like to have credit for their hardwork.

Amrosorma said:
I know this is a stupid question, but I see "kang" pop up in a lot of things related to Cyanogen and I guess lifting things without credit? I'm not sure.
What's the history behind it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... from back in the G1/HTC Dream days.... that guy would steal code and claim it as his own. I think that "Kang" is a different pronunciation of "King", from that username. Wow, nostalgia...

djmcnz said:
Kang means to take somebody else's work and put it to good use. Credit is expected but occasionally not given.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, way to use my picture, too -_- fail

When will Cyanogen mod be available for the Nook Color?

What do you think?
And the 44 people who voted for "within 6 months" win..
/m

I think that we will have it in 2011 Jan-March.
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using Tapatalk

It depends on how fast we raise money to buy the devs a device.
See the related thread in this forum.

If you were familiar with Cyanogenmod, you would know that rule #1 is don't ask for ETAs.
Sent from my NOOKcolor (Nooxus One) using Tapatalk

Similiar to the first rule of fight club. ;-)

Actually, I'd be amazed if cyanogen or teamdouche ever developed for the nook. Not really their device, you know?

It will get done when it gets done.
I do expect that someone will be working on it if they aren't already:
CyanogenMod is too popular, too good and has a lot of talented people who work on it for there NOT to be someone who wants it on a Nook Color- and can do it.
And I really hope it happens- can't be too soon for me!
There are a lot of things I hope to be able to do with mine and the best shot is a CM rom, I think.

Donate some $ to help speed up the process
See this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=868868

Zak Jones! said:
Actually, I'd be amazed if cyanogen or teamdouche ever developed for the nook. Not really their device, you know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its Android....of course its "their device"
wouldnt surprise me if the ole boy emself stepped out and built one for the misses.

If they ever do it, maybe within 6 months. Do we even know if someone is working on it?

Im going out to the bar with thedudesandroid and mikey1022 this Thursday, and they are expecting me to bring the NookColor I haven't bought yet (should have it Weds)....hopefully it will put a seed in dudes head to buy one/develop for it *cough* *cough*
For those that dont know, its unlikely for a official port to happen unless one of the devs has one unless someone makes an unofficial port of it. but I believe before we can start thinking about ROMs there needs to be a full system dump, and I dont think we are that far....yet.

I spoke with cyanogen & co last night via Tinychat. There is interest in the device, but, and there's always a but:
1) They don't have the thing. I'm running a donate fund to fix this!
2) Tablets(1024x600 res in particular) are a "new" form factor which will need changes to Android's UI to make it "great". In My Humble Opinion, regular CM ported over will work just fine, but there is always room for improvement.
3) They have a full plate already. Have you SEEN how many devices are supported already?

MrOtsKrad said:
Im going out to the bar with thedudesandroid and mikey1022 this Thursday, and they are expecting me to bring the NookColor I haven't bought yet (should have it Weds)....hopefully it will put a seed in dudes head to buy one/develop for it *cough* *cough*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did it go, was there some interest? I got my nook color on Tuesday and thoroughly despise the default OS.
/mr

mrintegrity said:
How did it go, was there some interest? I got my nook color on Tuesday and thoroughly despise the default OS.
/mr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With all due respect, the default OS is not that bad IMO. It looks clean and responds well enough for the masses who want one for an e-reader. You can go ahead a root it now and put on ADW.Launcher to make it somewhat like you like it.

This is my first android device to be honest. I am a little dissapointed with the interface, not quite what I was expecting.
I am trying to get ångström linux to boot on it but not having any joy so far..
/mr

i feel ashamed they call it android with whats on the nook. They riped it apart left tiny bits. this is akin removing all the interior from a car and saying thats how its suppose to be

A hint of things to look forward to
The first real sign that someday this will be more than just hope and conjecture ...
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android/commit/1173efbc765851a8aa617c816ff413ebedefd246

B&N Nook Color 2.2 Update?

So where is the promised January/mid-February NC 2.2 update from B&N??? Here's what I found recently:
"B&N plans to update the OS sometime in 2011. Regarding applications, we are committed to the NOOKdeveloper program and on track to add apps to our store in early 2011, but do not have plans enable Android Marketplace at this time."

It was never promised. Just rumoured. And then pretty much debunked:
http://nookappreview.com/2010/12/31/nook-apps-might-arrive-in-march-2011-developer-mode-in-jan-2011/

Still sounds promising seeing how i'ts March already. But it looks like it's more of a refined update as opposed to a general android OS update. The inclusion of flash would be nice. And if they are in charge of making flash available then maybe we'll get a decent working version of one a little easier.

The current build just feels sluggish. Especially the browser. Hopefully they can rectify that in whatever updates they have brewing.
In general I think BN just needs to get the app store out but maybe they are waiting on actual developers for this? At the very least...Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, e-mail, Youtube, etc. would be nice. Support for more types of video codecs as well as allowing side loaded content to be added to the home screen would help make those features actually useful. I think they really are a few steps away from the stock, unrooted OS being decent enough where some of us less adventurous people will be dissuaded from going through the trouble of rooting.
Web browsing is a lot worse than on my iPhone 4 at the moment. The video quality on m.youtube is a horrendous pixelated mess. No difference at all between HQ and Normal.

To watch YouTube in HD, dig around for and install "signed_YouTube.apk". I believe this is the gingerbread version and plays YouTube vids in HD on the nook properly
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using XDA App

henhowc said:
The current build just feels sluggish. Especially the browser. Hopefully they can rectify that in whatever updates they have brewing.
In general I think BN just needs to get the app store out but maybe they are waiting on actual developers for this? At the very least...Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, e-mail, Youtube, etc. would be nice. Support for more types of video codecs as well as allowing side loaded content to be added to the home screen would help make those features actually useful. I think they really are a few steps away from the stock, unrooted OS being decent enough where some of us less adventurous people will be dissuaded from going through the trouble of rooting.
Web browsing is a lot worse than on my iPhone 4 at the moment. The video quality on m.youtube is a horrendous pixelated mess. No difference at all between HQ and Normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could see them waiting for more apps... its also possible their riding the hype and waiting for it to die down before releasing it.
However as I + others have said... theres NO REASON for B&N to update the nook. At least from a android firmware standpoint

Admiralvic said:
I could see them waiting for more apps... its also possible their riding the hype and waiting for it to die down before releasing it.
However as I + others have said... theres NO REASON for B&N to update the nook. At least from a android firmware standpoint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to a B&N employee, there will be an update to stock NC to Android 2.2 based firmware which will also support Flash, at the end of March.
Remember that this is third-hand, may be incorrect, and could be delayed even if it is correct.

I really wish there was going to 2.2 update.

ADude said:
According to a B&N employee, there will be an update to stock NC to Android 2.2 based firmware which will also support Flash, at the end of March.
Remember that this is third-hand, may be incorrect, and could be delayed even if it is correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard the same thing from an employee except it was 2-3 weeks ago and the date they gave was the end of February.

Admiralvic said:
theres NO REASON for B&N to update the nook. At least from a android firmware standpoint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That may not be true, it depends upon how "Enhanced NookBooks" will work, which according to their website are coming soon. Flash maybe?

I had not seen this thread and I just got back from BN. I showed the guy my rooted Nookand he was impressed.. although I dont think he liked my kindle app.
He did volunteer that there would be an update by the end of March. What was included .. he did not say.

Admiralvic said:
I could see them waiting for more apps... its also possible their riding the hype and waiting for it to die down before releasing it.
However as I + others have said... theres NO REASON for B&N to update the nook. At least from a android firmware standpoint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can hope and dream can we not?

If a B&N store employee is telling you when the update is coming they are talking out of their anus.
No company is going to give out any information like that to bottom level sales employees. When B&N settles on an official date they will at best give the employees a couple days warning.
Honestly we will probably know when its coming before the employees do.

notinterested said:
If a B&N store employee is telling you when the update is coming they are talking out of their anus.
No company is going to give out any information like that to bottom level sales employees. When B&N settles on an official date they will at best give the employees a couple days warning.
Honestly we will probably know when its coming before the employees do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen some stores have specific Nook "experts" that just hang around the Nook kiosks all day long and they probably have more general knowledge about the product than say the cashiers or regular employees. I wouldn't say its impossible that an employee knows info that we don't. Or they could read forums like this too.

henhowc said:
I've seen some stores have specific Nook "experts" that just hang around the Nook kiosks all day long and they probably have more general knowledge about the product than say the cashiers or regular employees. I wouldn't say its impossible that an employee knows info that we don't. Or they could read forums like this too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you have to remember this wasnt the first time we went down this road. I remember when every employee was saying the app store + 2.2 would come out in January... then it was Feb, now its end of march... I wouldnt be shocked if these people are just relying on luck, and assuming things.
Not everyone, employees included know that theres android on the low... its always possible that they just think were on Nook firmware 2.1, and just say a date for the next update as its possible.
Logically speaking, if the nook was getting an upgrade... and the employees actually knew, and were telling it why wouldnt it get announced? With something like 2.2, its not like B&N is going to just release it without trying to nab sales.

A. Nonymous said:
I heard the same thing from an employee except it was 2-3 weeks ago and the date they gave was the end of February.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really respect delays in software releases.
This means that the managers are allowing the programmers to fix the bugs, instead of heeding the CEOs' usual call to "release it now regardless of whether it works right".
I am not referring to any particular company or CEO, but there is always pressure from above to release software before it is stable.
PS How do BN employees know ? Someone has to be doing Beta testing before a release to millions of customers. It is typical for large companies to have employees do Beta testing. It would not be unusual for those Beta testers to get an email with link to "release candidate for public release at the end of the month, so please confirm that you do not have problems with this release". Then when problems are confirmed, release slips to the following month, rinse and repeat.

Hello,
just wanted to share that just the other day, must have been thursday, A Nook rep at my local B&N store and i got to talking and he said that he had been told that 2.2 will be out this month! and that he was told that in January. Looks like we might be getting luck! Just gotta be patient. Always fun... lol

henhowc said:
I've seen some stores have specific Nook "experts" that just hang around the Nook kiosks all day long and they probably have more general knowledge about the product than say the cashiers or regular employees. I wouldn't say its impossible that an employee knows info that we don't. Or they could read forums like this too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a digital lead at a BN and I love this forum...

tranquilchao5 said:
I am a digital lead at a BN and I love this forum...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right.
Although it would be nice to have a B&N rep. mulling around the forum. After all, I think communites like this are best at making products better for everyone else. And forum reading typically are strongly tied and loyal to their device. They also are more likely to spread good PR if they are happy with their product and the company attached to it. Read; OG Droid compared to the Droid X fiasco. Ever wonder why they finally allowed an unlockable bootloader on the Xoom? Something caused them to backtrack a bit...even if we only represent a small percent of the consumer base.
Sent from my NC using XDA App

tranquilchao5 said:
I am a digital lead at a BN and I love this forum...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spill the beans!

Tweet from Cyanogen himself

I seen this in my Twitter feed and figured I'd share it here. It's the story of cm. How it all started..really investing stuff. He also talks about launching an cm installer that will be available in the play store in the next few weeks. Check it out and show your support people!
http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/a_new_chapter
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

this is from G+, from the developer of Focal, and why a bunch of contributors/developers for cm are upset about the whole thing..
Guillaume Lesniak originally shared:
I remained silent about the whole Focal relicensing troubles for now. There was a lot of drama between the app being GPL, and the fact Cyanogen Inc wanted to use it, which drove some frustration between me, some CM contributors, and CM leaders. As a result, to avoid any problem, Focal has been removed from CyanogenMod. I think you deserve explanations and “behind the scenes” view on how all of this happened, and to know it’s not just a last-minute decision or ragequit.
This is the true, fully-featured story of the “Focal drama”. It's not a rant about how Cyanogen Inc is bad or anything (and it can be a good thing, with a few conditions, see at the end of the post), but just an insight on how this all happened, and how some people were and are feeling.
A few months ago, I decided to work on an app to replace AOSP’s Camera app after +Steve Kondik expressed concerns about the camera experience on CyanogenMod in a G+ post. I decided to take the challenge, and build up a camera app that would be up with users’ expectations: accessible and innovative UI, but fully-featured.
You all know how that worked out - the app has been out for some time now. I’ve been keeping the “internal” CM team (read: the CyanogenMod Dev private G+ group) tuned with my progress, releasing them mockups, screenshots and videos of the progress. Luckily, nobody ever leaked what it was, even with the big storm we started with the Nemesis trailer.
A few days before we started organizing Focal’s launch, I was approached by +Koushik Dutta and +Steve Kondik . They wanted to talk to me about CyanogenMod’s future developments, that sounded cool. Koush told me in a video chat Cyanogen’s plans since he left Samsung: they found investors, and they’re ready to push forward Cyanogen Inc, a company selling services for CyanogenMod. At first, that sounded amazing, getting a few bucks for working on something I’ve been doing for free for some time. That would allow the student I am to get some stuff and get a kickstart for my future life. That would have given me the chance to spend more time on CM, as I wouldn't need to work elsewhere. Now, I didn’t have much information about what were Cyanogen Inc plans to make money, but I expected it to be through some kind of services - koush told me about CMID, which later became CMAccount, or other premium things like a one-click installer, or even a CMPhone. That sounded like a nice addition to CyanogenMod, leaving the community intact, and adding more value to the software distribution.
I had a similar chat with Steve, where he explained me some of the other aspects of Cyanogen Inc, his philosophy about it, etc. Okay, that sounds like a good plan, get me involved and enhance the open distribution I know and love. I have a few emails back and forth between Steve, Koush and me, talking about what I could work on, what I could enhance on Focal, etc. They’re telling me they’re looking into contracts, and I wait.
That’s when the “drama” started.
I got a Hangouts chat from Koush, saying that Focal would need to be relicensed because GPL isn’t ideal -- wait what, not ideal for an Open Source project?
“The issue is that we need to be able to relicense it”
“It’ll be open as GPL, but CM can do what they want with it.”
Yes, Cyanogen Inc. will need to do changes in CyanogenMod’s source code - because here’s another way they will finance the project: customization for their customers (e.g. carriers). This will imply the work done by the community will be sold to a third party by Cyanogen Inc, and that they have to do changes that they cannot put online publicly. A future conversation with Steve Kondik will reveal that they might need to put hardware-specific enhancement for some camera devices, and that has to be hacked in the Camera app code. Putting these changes inside Camera apps instead of Hardware Abstraction Layers (HAL) could break other apps, which ironically kind of go against the goal of CTS (because then, only the “official” camera app will have those enhancements). Of course, those hardware enhancements are trade secrets, so they cannot be published back to CyanogenMod’s public repositories...
So this is where I started to feel screwed. I didn’t think much further, but I felt like I had no other choice but comply with Cyanogen’s relicensing, and allow them to do whatever they want with my code, and sell it customized to their vendors. They used the Contributor License Agreement as an argument, saying that basically they could do anything with my code since I submitted it.
At the same time, the “cyngn.com” domain was discovered, and concerns rised about what the hell it was. People such as pulser_g2 started to find connections between Cyngn.com, Kirt McMaster, Steve Kondik, Koushik Dutta, and all these people working at a “secret company” in a “secret location”. From ways I cannot even explain, he was able to come up with everything Koush and Steve told me, how they’d make money, and what are their future plans. Since he already knew everything, I told him about what was going on with Focal licensing, and he came up with the fact that this wasn’t legally right: the software is licensed as GPL, the repository on CyanogenMod’s github is forked from my GitHub, so it didn’t go through the Contributor License Agreement (which only applies to Gerrit submissions), and the Berne convention can prove through the commits history that I did fully write the app, and not Cyanogen Inc. - and even if the CLA would apply, it only allows them to sublicense the software, not relicense or dual-license it without my permission.
I didn’t want to be a jerk on that licensing story, and went ahead to resolve the issue directly in private with Steve. At the same time, other people such as Andrew Dodd (Entropy512) beginned to hear echoes about something was going on with Cyanogen, and heard about the GPL licensing issues around the time Land of Droid revealed the connections. He got really upset about that, getting only silence or vague answers from CM leads, turning around sentences.
That’s where they started lying to the community, denying they had something to do with cyngn.com, denying there was a commercialization of CyanogenMod going on. When people said “Why would Focal get relicensed?” they would just say “No, it’s not relicensed. It will stay GPL.” - yes, that’s where “relicense” became “dual-license”, where the app would remain GPL publicly, but still allow Cyanogen Inc to do what they want with it. But they didn't mention that publicly.
pulser_g2 raised some points on an XDA post that became quite famous, quoted by some news websites, and raised to the attention of some CM leads.
The official answer was: “Don’t interfere, don’t reply, let it go”
So, they didn’t confirm or infirm that CyanogenMod was or was not going commercial. If it wasn’t going commercial, they would have denied it. But here, they ask to “let it go”. Why not tell the truth? For them, it was better to just sweep it under the rug. But who was right in the end?
At that point in time, I still had no news about the contracts I was meant to receive weeks ago for working with Cyanogen Inc on Focal. I pinged ciwrl, who told me to check with koush, who told me to check with Steve, who didn’t reply.
At that time, they also started scrapping features from CyanogenMod. Device’s “Advanced settings” disappeared, without getting a proper replacement first. Some features aren't considered as useful enough, and didn’t make it into the new CMHW HAL. Even if users want something, they won’t get it if it’s not useful enough. Save to external SD disappeared as well from the AOSP Camera app, because it breaks Google’s CTS. Root access is planned to be COMPLETELY removed by default, and to be downloaded in a separate package. Users don’t use root anyway, they say. All of this because of a future CyanogenMod Phone, which has to pass CTS to get Google Apps officially. Want some exotic features? Too bad. You won’t get them if Google don’t. Wasn’t that the point of CyanogenMod originally? Derp.
That’s when my concerns started to raise about the community contributions. People such as +Nebojša Cvetković contributed a lot of features to CyanogenMod’s launcher “Trebuchet”, and felt bad about not getting any reward for his work, when Cyanogen Inc. would make money out of it. Same concerns were raised by other maintainers and developers who contribute, or used to contribute to CyanogenMod. It was the last bit required for multiple people to leave the CyanogenMod development community, or for some users to simply stop using CyanogenMod. They didn’t know exactly what Cyanogen Inc was up to, but since the leaders would just lie to them to hide the truth, they felt let down. And it was clear from my chats with Steve that they had no ideas or plans, besides contracting everyone, to reward contributors. But they cannot just contract everyone, like nebkat as he’s not old enough yet to have a contract. Some other people just don’t want to be contracted, but still want to get a reward. It’s only recently that I told Steve that people would be totally happy with some perks (computer stuff, t-shirts, usb drives, devices for big contributors, etc.), and it seems like he didn’t think about that at first.
This continued for some time, until now. Cyanogen Inc is now public, and they revealed (part of) their plans for the near future. And a sentence struck me on most news sites that relayed the news: they talk about “Cyanogen’s new Camera app” -- what WHAT? So it’s Cyanogen’s camera app now? It not a CONTRIBUTION anymore?! - They claim it's their app, and I still had no news about the whole licensing thing, even if I had the chance to raise the point a few times.
This was too much this time - I pulled the alarm. I first contacted +Abhisek Devkota on why it was phrased this way, to be welcomed with a “You submitted it…” … Uhm, no, but he wasn’t going to argue with me, and told me to see that with Steve, which I did. After some chat, explaining how he could reward nebkat and other contributors, he told me that he was still waiting on me to “list my pricing, features and milestones for Focal” -- which I did, back on July 23rd. I never had any answer, seemingly because the “Focal drama started” and he got frustrated. From there, it seemed like Steve just wanted to stop dealing with it because “this is too much drama”. The exact drama part that bothers him? Well, some contributors weren’t happy about what Cyanogen Inc is. +Andrew Dodd really insisted and wanted to have explanations on WHY Focal would need to be relicensed, and why all this secrecy, without any real answer ever.
And how does Steve deals with these kind of reactions now? Easy answer:
“Oh god please tell me the story. grabs popcorn” https://plus.google.com/u/0/101093310520661581786/posts/1ev1FJpSCE3
Well, here’s your story. And here’s how they treat huge contributors like Andrew, who aren’t big enough and don’t open their mouth with the right people. The most ironical thing? If they want to dual-license, it is to make non-open changes to the apps. So, we’ll need CyanogenMod for the CyanogenMod Phone, because the code shipping on the device won’t match the public code.
Steve’s argument to avoid rewarding people, is that people wants to be “retroactively paid” - but he doesn’t seem to understand that people contributed when CyanogenMod was still a project all about open source, that wasn’t removing features from the ROM, and that had no commercial intentions. Nebkat contributed a lot of stuff in the Launcher, which is a central component of CyanogenMod today. But he did it a few months ago, “before” Cyanogen Inc, so he doesn’t deserve anything. But Cyanogen Inc can sell it to his customers.
Entropy512 wanted to clarify that point for his situation, which is true for many other contributors: “Some people like myself contribute to the project to keep our minds sharp and it's rewarding in and of itself. I make more than enough money in my day job. If someone is planning on creating a closed source fork, which is the only thing that dual licensing enables, it is no longer rewarding.”
Now, don't get me wrong. Cyanogen Inc is a huge milestone for CyanogenMod, and I can only applaud Steve for the initiative and being able to get there. There are not only dark points with the company, far from that. There’s a big bright side: CyanogenMod will become more stable, and will eventually get more features (even if they’re not going to do anything against CTS). Device support might get enhanced, since they’re paid to work on it now (even if issues existing for a LONG time aren’t fixed). And users maybe will get official support.
But the community can feel let down at some point. People from external ROMs would have loved to contribute back to CM at some point. However when Cyanogen’s leaders refers to Paranoid Android or AOKP, they call it “that other ROM”. Steve, always saying “Go ahead and fork”, isn’t actually taking seriously contributions from other developers. And since external contributors know their contributions are going to be ignored, they just don’t submit anything.
I could go on and on with many other things, how the code review is done (or rather, not done), how submissions are just -2’d without explanations, how they criticize XDA users (yes, where ¾ of their user base come from), how they complain people don’t contribute, when they DID but the patch was ignored because the maintainer didn’t want it at that time, how unstable devices are tagged as RC/stable (without asking their maintainers ; Netflix won’t run on a “stable” build of CM for exynos devices), etc. But I’m not here for that.
At this point, on my end the issue is solved, Focal is pulled from CyanogenMod. It wasn't a last minute decision, it wasn't just because I discovered it just now. It's something that has been running for around two months, and the solution was only found yesterday after a long discussion, and because it had to be stopped quickly.
I will keep on improving the app, fixing bugs, and make it better. If it’s not in CyanogenMod, then it will find room in another ROM. The app is GPL, and I will put it up on the Play Store at some point.
I have plans to raise the awareness of the importance of Open Source, and how GPL doesn't prevent any paid work, and that that there are easy ways to keep the community happy with such a situation.
And at the same time, I wish the best to Cyanogen Inc.
Keep in mind: CyanogenMod wouldn’t be what it is today without its contributors. If you’re able to run CyanogenMod on your device today, it might not be only thanks to Steve, Koushik or Ricardo. There are hundreds of people behind them who pushed many patches, and enabled many devices as a hobby. Have you ever heard of them?
Show less
73
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Should be interesting on how all this will play out....

Can't wait for the phones...
The ironic thing is that if CM really does start putting out phones there is a decent chance that they'll be the only devices guaranteed NOT to be supproted by CM as we currently think of it today. Can you imagine CM posting links to how to root these devices, or pointing to drivers/etc so that you can build your own CM variants for them?
I really do hope that this doesn't turn out to be the case, but one of the downsides to an aftermarket project "going mainstream" is that it often results in a product that isn't really any better than the products it previously sought to replace.

I would love to try Focal sans CM...looking forward to it!

wideasleep1 said:
I would love to try Focal sans CM...looking forward to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Play store. Focal (Beta). Would post a link, but I'm on my phone. Works just as good as the version previously bundled in cm.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xplod.focal
wideasleep1 said:
I would love to try Focal sans CM...looking forward to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tvall said:
Play store. Focal (Beta). Would post a link, but I'm on my phone. Works just as good as the version previously bundled in cm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

simms22 said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xplod.focal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL! Yep! I didn't hafta wait long..did I?!?!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xplod.focal
Team BBQ is EASY to remember!

Wow, I didn't know it was this bad.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Daaaaaamn!
This is what happens when greed, fame and money take over your life.

https://plus.google.com/106978520009932034644/posts/L8FJkrcahPs
It's the last build of CM I've had on my phone. Going to stock ROM, and using xposed modules.
For years CM being a leader on open source. But soon as they smell money/power, it all goes downhill.
Losing freedom and features, CM will try become a mainstream ROM that carriers can buy. CM will become a Touchwiz.
With no root and extra device features, since Google won't allow it.

4+ years of tireless community work and that's all you have to say? This isn't like some typical scenario that plays perfectly in your head cause it reassures certain prejudices in your life. The leads as well as their work should have earned them some good faith.

I would like to read the story of how his original plan got clouded by money and turned a cool thing into a corporate mess.

r00t4rd3d said:
I would like to read the story of how his original plan got clouded by money and turned a cool thing into a corporate mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soon...

Wow, this is really weak. This sounds like Kindergarten to me.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I'm starting to hate CM now

Honestly, it worked out how you would expect. Part of the problem is many of the people contributing are not able to be compensated by the new corporation (underage, etc). However, at the end of the day, they will get good people working for them on paid positions so you will have more consistent work I would presume. I don't think they will change their vision dramatically, so I wouldn't think they are going to completely sell out and destroy the project.

bozzykid said:
I don't think they will change their vision dramatically, so I wouldn't think they are going to completely sell out and destroy the project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some would argue your first point has already happened and your second point is the end-game and your last point is the worst case scenario that seems more likely now than, say, July.
Folks will need to decide for themselves whether they want to ride the company train into the company town to shop at the company store. Many are already beholden to Google/Facebook/Twiiter that they'll never even notice.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

bozzykid said:
Honestly, it worked out how you would expect. Part of the problem is many of the people contributing are not able to be compensated by the new corporation (underage, etc). However, at the end of the day, they will get good people working for them on paid positions so you will have more consistent work I would presume. I don't think they will change their vision dramatically, so I wouldn't think they are going to completely sell out and destroy the project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Despite my earlier posts, I'm willing to wait and see how things go, but MANY community-driven FOSS projects have gone through this and it rarely turns out well. It is one thing when a company starts out as a company (like MySQL) and just happens to release everything as FOSS along the way. It is another when a project starts out community-driven and tries to turn into a company, for the reason you already stated.
Healthy community projects have a very diverse set of small contributors. This means that if individuals leave or burn out there isn't a huge loss to the community. Healthy companies can really only operate if you have a small number of serious contributors. They can't pay hundreds of people, and if they paid by the patch the work just wouldn't be worth doing for the sake of the money.
Motivations for contributing to non-profits tend to be different from those for contributing to for-profits. People will just give away $200 worth of their time to a FOSS non-profit. People will usually not part with such time to benefit a for-profit unless the contribution is somehow self-serving.
The irony of this is that a successful FOSS organization that gets an infusion of cash can end up spending that money on salaries and get less labor out of the deal...

A corporate CM was bound to happen someday. Shame though. I remember reading Steve's first interviews about cm and his visions and how honorable they were. Hope the team doesn't throw it all out the window for money.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4