IRC log for #handhelds on 20110806

00:01.36Hymiehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guGchg4mbLs
00:02.30mzbjoshua_: founder status for the handhelds* channels might be an idea ... I've got op, but can't control it all without founder
00:02.40mzbwell ... somebody needs it, anyway ;)
00:15.01Hymiefrankly, with android devices and their open sourced kernels, it should be much easier to create a debian based phone, or some such
00:15.20Hymie99% of the problem before was the device and drivers, heh
00:21.41mzbin theory that's fine, but in practice very few of the (Chinese) manufacturers actually publish the source
00:21.55mzb~google witstech a81e
00:21.55mzb9[5Google9] http://www.merimobiles.com/Witstech_A81E_Android_2_2_800MHz_CPU_Market_Free_p/meri0306.htm 9[5Witstech A81E Android 2.2,800MHz CPU Market+Free - Merimobiles9]
00:22.26mzb^ nice little tablet for $200 (newer models are better)
00:23.50mzbeg: this hasn't got far: http://code.google.com/p/a81linux/
00:36.04joshua_mzb, that's like priority #78 :P
00:37.02mzbhehe
00:37.32mzbyeah ... I just mean "while you're there ... get founder status for the channels so that we can manage them properly"
00:37.40joshua_yeah
00:37.53joshua_holy shit man, I'm looking at this bug, and it is just littered with corpses
00:38.42mzbdead developers?
00:38.56joshua_yeah
00:39.21joshua_many have tried, and all of their heads just spontaneously combusted
00:39.31mzbheheh
00:39.42joshua_120 kbytes of javascript doing direct register I/O, christ
00:39.52mzbew
00:46.24mzbspeaking of bugs, I guess I'd better finish off this job so I can get paid!
00:47.09mzbmanaged to convince the client to pay double for the last job, so I'd better make this one pretty good! ;)
00:47.49mzbtook somebody else's work (PHP) that took 10hours to run! .... and did a complete rewrite in Python that takes THREE MINUTES!
00:47.53mzbwoohoo!
00:47.55mzb*cackle*
00:48.34mzb(archival script for a call-centre)
00:51.11Hymiemzb: wtf are you talking about, HTC publishes full source + drivers for all android devices
00:51.17Hymieand, HTC has tons o'devices
00:51.35Hymiemotorola does as well
00:51.42Hymiehell, everyone does that isn't black market
00:52.33Hymiemzb: it's quite an improvement in just 1 1/2 years
00:53.19Hymiemzb: example -- HTC Desire Z / G2.. full kernel sources, you could easily run just Debian on it if you wanted....
00:53.46Hymiealtohugh, no one bothers since Android isn't all that bad, but, in truth, I'd like something that isn't sucked down by the horrible suckiness of java
00:53.51mzbsure ... if I could afford anything better than the Chinese stuff :/
00:54.08Hymiemzb: I'm not talking about mzb though, I'm talking about the state of things in general
00:54.21Hymiewe can focus on mzb another day ;P
00:54.48mzbyeah ... I've had a bit of a play with Android on the A81E ... makes me feel stupid just looking at it ;)
00:55.06Hymiemzb: what didn't you like about it?
00:55.29Hymiemzb: it's at least more palitable once rooted... certainly not "fun", but... at least thre can be some freedom there
00:55.31mzbcan't do things *my* way (easily)
00:55.54mzbyeah ... rooting was easy, but I'd *really* prefer Debian
00:55.59Hymiemzb: a lot of people feel as you do.. thge 'su' app for android is quite sophisticated now
00:56.12HymieI still haven't tried chroot debian
00:56.25Hymieprimarily since thge main way to use it as a GUI is to run a VNC server/client
00:56.39Hymiebut, I was talking to someone the other day -- it's funny
00:57.03Hymieif you install all debian source archives + compiled archives in a chroot, and downloaded all technical android apps you could
00:57.04mzbanother interesting one I've got here is the Parrot DF3120
00:57.07Hymieand travelled to 1950
00:57.10Hymieyou'd be a god :D
00:57.27mzb:)
00:57.46mzb(speaking of VNC)
00:57.55Hymiemzb: if you had 100 g2 phones, for example, I mean -- that's be more power than the entire world had in 1970s
00:58.00mzbthe DF3120 has bluetooth, and a few interesting sensors
00:58.08Hymieah, photo frame
00:58.31mzbyep ... I've got it booting a custom build off card ... it's pretty neat
00:58.36Hymiecool ;)
00:59.01Hymiemy experience with parrot support hgas not been good, so I'm glad to see any parrot device with alternative boot options
00:59.02mzb*BUT* almost nothing other than the VNC client works ... and it sucks up all my bluetooth bandwidth :/
00:59.15Hymiehmm
00:59.43mzbthat being said, it's pretty special for it's ability + price
00:59.54Hymiemzb: you know, with the dual core phones coming down the pipe, you should look for a lightly used G2 cheap
00:59.54mzbiirc I paid about $30 delivered for it
01:00.18mzbcould be interested in that idea
01:00.19Hymiemzb: it hgas a keyboard, near to end CPU power and ram currently
01:00.35Hymiemzb: lots of community support to help root it, and, play with it once rooted
01:01.02mzbI've got a new *comms* solution ($10/month) that allows me to talk for free between my mobile and a datacard connected to my pbx at home
01:01.02Hymiemzb: there are tons of custom roms for it, and all roms hae full kernel sources + binary drivers where necessary
01:01.20mzbcould be tempted to get one with a broken screen, I guess;)
01:01.22Hymieso, it should be relatively easy to take a G2 custom rom, and work from that and build something you'd prefer on that
01:01.57Hymiehmm
01:02.21Hymieand the custom bootloader, 'clockworkmod' has sources available too, and allows tons of manipluation before loaded
01:02.47Hymieonce you have CWM and s-off on there, it's impossible to brick it from flashing a rom
01:03.33joshua_[20:51:11] <Hymie^ wtf are you talking about, HTC publishes full source + drivers for all android devices
01:03.34joshua_sometimes
01:03.42joshua_occasionally they remember to comply with the GPL
01:03.49Hymiejoshua_: no, it's much better now
01:03.54joshua_when called on it, they claim that they only need to offer source
01:03.58joshua_Hymie, no, it's not much better now
01:04.04mzbhrmm ... au$204
01:04.08Hymiejoshua_: they were all bitchy, but they really realise now they need to tow the line
01:04.12joshua_there was just a month and a half wait for them to publish source for the recent line of devices
01:04.14joshua_no, they don't
01:04.22joshua_they wait six weeks before shipping source, sometimes eight
01:04.24Hymiejoshua_: 6 months ago there were issues they were called on that and so far, from what I've seen, they've been quite responsive
01:04.25joshua_that is totally unacceptible
01:04.28joshua_no, they haven't been
01:05.03Hymiejoshua_: I have absolutely no issue with it taking them a few weeks to pump out sources for roms the provide on their website
01:05.16HymieI know, others do, but I don't view that as the same as 'no, I won't give this to you"
01:05.19Hymiethey used to have that stance
01:05.27Hymieor only provide partial sources
01:05.33joshua_http://users.livejournal.com/joshua_/41833.html
01:05.37Hymienow they do provide 100%
01:05.40joshua_no, taking a few weeks is absolutely not OK
01:05.49HymieI won't tell you to stop fighting for that
01:05.51mzberrmm .... au$164 ... now it's getting interesting
01:05.52Hymiebut for me, I'm happy
01:06.05joshua_that is taking work from the community and withholding their contributions so that they can gain competitive advantage
01:06.11joshua_and, as it turns out, that is what the GPL is designed to avoid
01:06.35Hymiewell, from where I sit, I have no issues with it taking a bit for a different team to release sources as a package
01:06.37Hymiebut, again
01:06.50Hymiethat doesn't mean I'd be upset by a more timely response, I'm just not stressed by it
01:06.54Hymieto be honest
01:06.57joshua_the free software foundation has issues with it
01:07.05HymieI've noticed the occasional case where the sources do not match what's on my device
01:07.07joshua_and the rest of the modification community does
01:07.10Hymiebut, I can tell those ar eminor fuckups
01:07.14Hymiethey worry me more though
01:07.27HymieI check my bluetooth code with strace, and noticed it wasn't the same as the source
01:07.28joshua_I mean, also bad (but not illegal) is that you cannot run your own code on the devices
01:07.42Hymiejoshua_: what are you talking about?
01:07.53Hymiejoshua_: HTC has announced that all future devices will not be locked
01:08.05joshua_except that the ones that they keep shipping that are locked
01:08.06Hymiejoshua_: you will be able to install any custom rom you want
01:08.09mzbor even au$129 for a used one
01:08.22Hymiejoshua_: they only announced that 2 month ago, they hgave contracts with carriers to honour
01:08.34mzb(HTC Magic)
01:08.42joshua_in any event, this is why http://revolutionary.io/
01:08.42Hymiejoshua_: don't take a BIG win, and complain that it isn't here yet...
01:08.59Hymieheh
01:09.02Hymiethese hosers
01:09.10Hymiemaybe you should tell them to release their sources
01:09.10joshua_that's the way it should have been from day 1, Hymie, and that Google is letting carriers and device manufacturers get away with this is beyond ridiculous
01:09.15joshua_I am them :P
01:09.31Hymiejoshua_: well, you need to work with people like guhl more freely
01:09.32mzboh, I guess you're talking about the HTC Vision, Hymie ?
01:09.37joshua_we do not use any GPL tools for a reason -- so that we don't have to release our exploits
01:09.38joshua_&#524;&#524;&#524;&#524;&#524;
01:09.40joshua_argh
01:10.10Hymiemzb: g2 is the vision, yes
01:10.28mzbhttp://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=2476&c=t-mobile_g2_htc_vision
01:10.42Hymiejoshua_: didn't you include wp_this in this tool/
01:10.45joshua_(anyway, that is my vision for handhelds.org this time around: running truly free software on handhelds)
01:11.02joshua_wp_this was included at one point, but by scotty2's explicit permission
01:12.02mzbmeh ... that's a $400 phone
01:12.08Hymiejoshua_: never mind, I'm thinking of those dongle guys
01:12.17joshua_the xtc clip guys?
01:12.33Hymiemzb: very soon it will drop in price on ebay when dual cores (thgere is a nice keyboarded dual core phone coming out) come out
01:12.44mzbhmm
01:12.55joshua_my recommendation for a new phone right now is GSII
01:13.14Hymiesamsung?
01:13.15mzbnot sure I like the slide ... have had to repair too many of them
01:13.17joshua_yup
01:13.22Hymiedoes it have a keyboard?
01:13.25joshua_nope
01:13.34Hymiethen useless for me :/
01:13.37Hymiemust
01:13.38Hymiehave
01:13.38joshua_oh?
01:13.39Hymiekeyboard
01:13.48joshua_the soft keyboard that comes with it is apparently pretty damn solid
01:13.55Hymiejoshua_: you should watch 'colossus -- the forbin project'
01:13.58mzbyeah, $SHE got a Samsung ... looks quite nice
01:13.59joshua_in part because the digitizer is apparently very solid
01:14.02Hymieeveryone says that to me
01:14.11Hymiead then laughs at me when I use it
01:14.18HymieI think soft keyboards were written by the french
01:14.18joshua_I have owned two HTC phones and both digitizers have sucked rocks
01:14.26Hymie(as, they like tl laugh as you try to speak their language ;)
01:14.45joshua_(for all my bitching and moaning about Android and openness, I'm pretty sure my next device will be an LTE iPhone whenever it ships)
01:14.51Hymiewell, nothing beats the old tactile feeling of the hardware keyboard
01:14.59mzbswype(?) is pretty cool, and there's an open source (or is it just *free*?) equivalent that's not bad
01:15.06Hymieit doesn't work for me
01:15.14joshua_(android is a closed platform that sucks; iPhone is a closed platform that doesn't suck)
01:15.15HymieI think it's because I have big fingers
01:15.16joshua_swype is pretty ok
01:15.25joshua_the more it learns, the less it knows though
01:15.50Hymiehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DtbPOXFk00
01:16.01Hymiethat's me and soft keyboards ;)
01:17.00Hymiejoshua_: anyhow, regardless of all the statements above, today is much better than yesterday, in terms of getting a kernel + drivers to run on your device
01:17.05joshua_yes
01:17.06Hymiethere was a time whne it simply would never, ever happen
01:17.15joshua_oh, that's vastly false
01:17.18HymieI think handhelds.org could be the nexdt step
01:17.20joshua_speaking as someone on the team that made it happen ;)
01:17.34Hymiemy statement rings true for some devices
01:17.39joshua_yeah
01:17.57Hymielook, the reason HTC is embracing the whole 'ok, you can run your own rom' stance
01:18.01Hymieis because they see the numbers
01:18.01Hymieand
01:18.08Hymiethey see how the roms aren't bad quality
01:18.12Hymieand some are awesome quality
01:18.16Hymiethey see, that one day
01:18.23Hymiethey will just install cyanogen on the phone
01:18.25Hymieand sell it
01:18.27Hymieand that's it
01:18.36Hymieor even sell un-installed phones
01:18.37Hymiewith no rom
01:18.42Hymiethey'll love that bottom line
01:18.51Hymieor sell phones to carriers
01:18.56Hymietha tjust slap cyanogenmod on it
01:19.01Hymieit will be like the PC market
01:19.03mzbI wouldn't mind having a look at a Nokia N9
01:19.13Hymiepoint is, handhelds.org can play a real part in that
01:19.15Hymiein that
01:19.20Hymiethere will be different distros
01:19.25Hymieand a distro, something like debian
01:19.26joshua_yes
01:19.30joshua_I'd like to do that, yes
01:19.33Hymiewith a slower moving, and real quality control process
01:19.37Hymiecould become a powerful player
01:19.38joshua_I think this is probably a clear direction for handhelds.org to go in :P
01:19.52Hymiecyanogenmod is great, but it ishn't the best for getting all the bugs out
01:20.07HymieI always have to switch
01:20.09joshua_anyway back to dealing with javascript psyops
01:20.12HymieI'm running nightlies
01:20.20Hymiebecause of the PITA with the latest release, and a few bugs
01:20.41Hymiejoshua_: at some time, I'd like to talk to you about a distro that is essentially a debian fork
01:20.45Hymiewith fluff mods
01:21.04joshua_so I have approximately no cycles for active development on that sort of thing
01:21.10Hymieright now
01:21.16Hymiebut the universe will make all things possible
01:21.21joshua_all my dev cycles go towards work and things like unrevoked/revolutionary/naim/...
01:21.22Hymieperhaps a grand from the rand corporation
01:21.29Hymiegrant too
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01:21.51Hymiejoshua_: ok
01:21.56Hymiel8r for now
01:22.07joshua_I have basically project management and webdev cycles for those sorts of things
01:22.09joshua_but not much beyond that
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