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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
There should be an application in the market which would sync with the themes list and the roms list from the respective sections in the forum.
There, you would be able to sift through all of the roms and themes on your device, no problems!
When I saw the CyanogenMod Updater in the Market, the app came to me.
Im not too sure how we would be able to see all of the roms at the moment, but sites like AndroidSpin seems to have a good concept.
Any ideas, or developers?
I cannot develop, but I am learning.
JRudnik said:
There should be an application in the market which would sync with the themes list and the roms list from the respective sections in the forum.
There, you would be able to sift through all of the roms and themes on your device, no problems!
When I saw the CyanogenMod Updater in the Market, the app came to me.
Im not too sure how we would be able to see all of the roms at the moment, but sites like AndroidSpin seems to have a good concept.
Any ideas, or developers?
I cannot develop, but I am learning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jordan! good to see you on here bro. as awesome as this would be, it would take some work. compiling all the roms into a database, and all the themes sounds easier said than done, but thats a alot of data. unless someone wants to host all this, aside from XDA, i dont see this happening. it does sound like a good idea though.
Start by saying Android on XDA because XDA is not Android, its HTC aka Winmo. So any app saying "XDA" will be including WinMo then there is no point to have an XDA app
maybe you guys can do something with the author of androidspin.com
he already has some kind of database.. maybe you guys can help eachother out
Sups, Palos! That's tight to see you here
AndroidSpin is a good place to start, for he has all of the roms cataloged already, it would be easier to start there and somehow incorporate it into an app.
My original post got lost when the forums had to be backed up.
What I'm looking for is very vague, the reason for this is I myself is someone that is learning 'All Android'. I don't mind if you're new to android or theming, all i need is someone that is decent in graphic design and wants to learn new things. Of course, knowing more about android would be a definite plus. Currently I've been creating a team for cross-platform development of Rom's for android devices. We're getting ready to make our first release and are in need of a graphic designer.
If this seems like something you would like, please PM me with you're desire and possibly some work you've done. Although previous work is not a requirement, wouldn't hurt to show us something.
How to get started as an graphic artist.
You want to create your own, individual app?You have great ideas how to design an app and will work in a team?
So here are the first steps and tricks how getting started!
So which program should I use?
Photoshop: It's one of the fastest and best program to work with!
But it's high expensive and needs time to know how to use it.
When you have mastered it, you will get the best results.
Gimp: Free and open source. But slow and doesn't have many (good) functions as photoshop.
It's enough for the basics and mabye for your own apps, but it will stop when you'll try to make professional images.
Others: There're still different programs. They don't have a such grand community as Gimp or Photoshop,
but some of them offer new functions that will help you making your work easier.
How do I learn the usage of these programs?
Well, there's one good way: YouTube. Many people made(and still making! - important for actual versions.)
very good tutorials while filming their work. It's even easier than reading pages of manuals or uning the publisher tips and introductions.
But with which tutorial should I start with?
First you should search for Photoshop basics. Maybe you look for one guy who's having a bunch of
episodes which basing on each other and leads you trough the process to get started with your program.
Now you can get specific. Search for tutorial e.g. on how to make app desings.
When you have enough experience it's enough to read trough text tutorials. You can also find good ones on YouTube.
Warning! Making themes for e.g. ROMs need Java knowledge and are more than making a picture.
(This won't be a problem after you dare to try this!)
Search for a team!
It's kind of boring to make themes again and again. Maybe there are group of developers out there who can't desing their own apps as good as you.
One possiblity is to join nikwen's list:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41177866
There're many designers who are interested in joining a developers group and help them.
Now you can make the first step on designing android apps.
Maybe it will be hard to understand at the beginning but when you keep trying to learn you will have the
possibility to be part of something. And mabye it's getting even bigger when you success.
Tutorials will follow!
Great guide. :good:
Thanks.
Im very interested in UI and UX designing.. just because im so bad in xml parsing and coding, so i just can implemented them in my homescreen..
Thanks for the thread.. im looking forward on this..
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Are there very less developers creators and makers for the xperia Z????
I check this forum regularly and dont see any new updates or roms or mods for this phone...
when I checked the samsung phones, the devs, creators are so many...is it because it's easy to make for samsung devices and harder for xperia z???? Why don't I see new mods and roms...
However, the ppl who are making it for us...I really appreciate it and to be honest...I love their job as they make something beneficial for us to use on the Xperia Z...!! But i don't see that allot..!!
Also..another question is
is it easy to make mods and roms???
I'll like to try to make..as I'm free nowadays...!!
ronak123456 said:
Are there very less developers creators and makers for the xperia Z????
I check this forum regularly and dont see any new updates or roms or mods for this phone...
when I checked the samsung phones, the devs, creators are so many...is it because it's easy to make for samsung devices and harder for xperia z???? Why don't I see new mods and roms...
However, the ppl who are making it for us...I really appreciate it and to be honest...I love their job as they make something beneficial for us to use on the Xperia Z...!! But i don't see that allot..!!
Also..another question is
is it easy to make mods and roms???
I'll like to try to make..as I'm free nowadays...!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure these forums disagree slightly....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2087
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2088