Task:Defining maemo
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To my mind, maemo is "the open collaboration project which was started by the release of a free software stack which made up part of the OS installed on Nokia's Internet Tablet series". That's a pretty crummy definition, but engenders a number of important distinctions: | To my mind, maemo is "the open collaboration project which was started by the release of a free software stack which made up part of the OS installed on Nokia's Internet Tablet series". That's a pretty crummy definition, but engenders a number of important distinctions: | ||
| - | * maemo is not the software running on your tablet | + | * maemo is not only the software running on your tablet |
* maemo is not just the website and tablet user community | * maemo is not just the website and tablet user community | ||
* maemo is not limited to free software | * maemo is not limited to free software | ||
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--''From a practical point-of-view, isn't maemo pretty much completely dependent on Nokia right now? Are there any viable non-Nokia maemo platforms out there? How much core development is not directed by the Nokia mothership? Claiming independence is counterproductive if it isn't tied to reality. - mee 04:28, 7 June 2008 (UTC)'' | --''From a practical point-of-view, isn't maemo pretty much completely dependent on Nokia right now? Are there any viable non-Nokia maemo platforms out there? How much core development is not directed by the Nokia mothership? Claiming independence is counterproductive if it isn't tied to reality. - mee 04:28, 7 June 2008 (UTC)'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Building a strong brand === | ||
| + | To built a strong brand i.e. something that people will renember and have have feelings about, we need foremost two things: | ||
| + | * clarity about what which name stands for and what are the values | ||
| + | * consistent implementation of the terminology | ||
| + | |||
| + | As pointed out already above, now we have maemo, maemo.org, Maemo Mapper, Other Maemo Weather, Internet Tablet OS, OS2008, ITOS and so on. This is not helpful. In general, as less names we have as stronger the remaining name becomes. So, why not center everything around the strongest word: maemo? Why not just talk about maemo platform, maemo software, maemo SDK, maemo community, Mapper for maemo, and maemo 4 (currently known as OS2008)? | ||
| + | |||
| + | And then, why do we want to re-educate people, newcomers, and techwriters in the use of English grammar? Why can't we use a capital "M" always for Maemo? Most of the strong Internet brands and open source brands have a capital letter: Google, Facebook, Ubuntu, Linux. Why do we need to be different? | ||
| + | |||
| + | Our updated terminology would be: | ||
| + | * Maemo Community with the home on maemo.org | ||
| + | * Maemo - the open source software that powers mobile devices | ||
| + | * Maemo SDK - the baseline to create applications | ||
| + | * Maemo platform - everything from kernel up to SDK | ||
| + | * Mapper for Maemo - a great application--[[User:peterschneider|peterschneider]] 08:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC) | ||
== Team working in this task == | == Team working in this task == | ||
Revision as of 08:25, 12 June 2008
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This article is continued discussion from the maemo.org brainstorm Please see the 100 Days agenda for more. |
Contents |
Objectives
Feedback needed! Let's agree on the objectives first. --qgil 20:51, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
- Define maemo, maemo.org and Internet Tablet OS / OS2008.
- Identify the blocks of the maemo software architecture and the projects behind.
- Define the roles of Nokia, the maemo community, the open source upstream projects and other organizations related to the maemo platform i.e. companies and universities.
- Produce an initial Who is Who in maemo.org based on the user profiles, to be expanded in a decentralized way.
- Produce a list of remarkable maemo projects.
- Document processes in maemo.org
Tasks
Help is welcome in all of them.
Ongoing
From the maemo.org June sprint:
- Publish a "Who's who in maemo", including Nokia engineers working with the community, contractors and volunteers. Encourage people to update their information to keep the document up to date - Dave
- Documenting companies involved in maemo development - Dave
- Documenting in maemo.org the web development process - Dave
- User profile improvements defined and started + bug Automatic data in user profiles - Oskari
- Bug maemo white paper architecture picture needs to be updated
In the backlog
Currently in the maemo.org backlog:
- Define maemo.org policies for things like editbugs, getting @maemo.org email addresses, and if it doesn't exist, getting svn access - Dave
- Documenting better Nokia contributions to open source projects, complement of http://opensource.nokia.com
Discussion
What is maemo
Many people are confused about what exactly maemo is, and the difference between Nokia's ITOS and maemo.org.
To my mind, maemo is "the open collaboration project which was started by the release of a free software stack which made up part of the OS installed on Nokia's Internet Tablet series". That's a pretty crummy definition, but engenders a number of important distinctions:
- maemo is not only the software running on your tablet
- maemo is not just the website and tablet user community
- maemo is not limited to free software
- maemo is software based in origin
- maemo is not limited to the needs of Nokia tablets - it can evolve beyond that usecase
- maemo is, above all, an open collaboration project - community developed software, free software, open access, and all of the infrastructure to support it
The major evolution of maemo should thus be a move to enable the community, to help maemo evolve away from its internet tablet roots. Things which allow maemo users to target other devices, replace "official" software or libraries, and otherwise hack on the maemo platform, are all useful. Discussions about opening drivers for hardware, or adding new applications to the tablets, are not. On the other hand, proposals to open up the documentation and APIs for proprietary components is a community enabler, and might be relevant.
- Who wrote the text above? Only to know who are we discussing with. :) Also, I have just posted some ideas about the scope of maemo as a "software platform based mostly in open source components" at bug #630 - Increased Bugzilla transparency - get the developers involved!.
- That would be me. --dneary 07:52, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
Describing the maemo community
Many people see the maemo community as a group of people having Nokia as a counterpart. A more accurate picture would:
- Have Nokia as a community player, describing the activities that are done at a community level.
- Show the relationships with related upstream projects: where the collaboration is happening beyond just using the free software provided.
- Add the many organizations involved in maemo development or research, from companies to universities.
Also, what about
- Go a bit deeper inside the "group of people" and identifying core contributors: more work on karma and user profiles would be needed.
Now the most visible are the one shouting louder and more often. It would be useful though to identify key contributors in the many community areas: application development, platform hacking, documentation, support, bug reporting, news, marketing... --qgil 05:57, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
--From a practical point-of-view, isn't maemo pretty much completely dependent on Nokia right now? Are there any viable non-Nokia maemo platforms out there? How much core development is not directed by the Nokia mothership? Claiming independence is counterproductive if it isn't tied to reality. - mee 04:28, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
Building a strong brand
To built a strong brand i.e. something that people will renember and have have feelings about, we need foremost two things:
- clarity about what which name stands for and what are the values
- consistent implementation of the terminology
As pointed out already above, now we have maemo, maemo.org, Maemo Mapper, Other Maemo Weather, Internet Tablet OS, OS2008, ITOS and so on. This is not helpful. In general, as less names we have as stronger the remaining name becomes. So, why not center everything around the strongest word: maemo? Why not just talk about maemo platform, maemo software, maemo SDK, maemo community, Mapper for maemo, and maemo 4 (currently known as OS2008)?
And then, why do we want to re-educate people, newcomers, and techwriters in the use of English grammar? Why can't we use a capital "M" always for Maemo? Most of the strong Internet brands and open source brands have a capital letter: Google, Facebook, Ubuntu, Linux. Why do we need to be different?
Our updated terminology would be:
- Maemo Community with the home on maemo.org
- Maemo - the open source software that powers mobile devices
- Maemo SDK - the baseline to create applications
- Maemo platform - everything from kernel up to SDK
- Mapper for Maemo - a great application--peterschneider 08:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
Team working in this task
- qgil coordinates the task and provides the information originated at Nokia.
- xfade is maemo.org webmaster
- Dave Neary is maemo.org docsmaster
- (add yourself)
Erm... I meant the team working in this task. :) --qgil 18:53, 11 June 2008 (UTC)