Community Updates not working well and GTA02b4 in february

[Jay Vaughan]

> Have I missed a community update?
>

A lot of times things getting discussed, for example in #openmoko,  
which is open and publicly accessible, just not publicly *accessed*.   
That is, these mailing lists are but one of the public, open  
channels, regarding openmoko: there are others.

> I find it frustrating that important information is not released  
> through the "community update" process, but rather leaks out as  
> rumors from other places.
>

I agree, there needs to be a "PR figurehead" who makes sure everyone  
knows whats going on, on all branches of the openmoko-related hot  
spots .. but alas, we don't have it.  So its safe to assume that if  
you *really* wanna know something, you *really* have to go to some  
lengths to discover it.  Lurk in #openmoko for a week and you'll see  
plenty of examples of how this case comes, and goes.

> On November 24, Claes Mogren mentioned in passing in the end of a  
> blog post (http://informationhunger.blogspot.com/2007/11/openmoko- 
> is-growing.html) that another revision was required of the GTA02.  
> This was big news to me. But I didn't know who Claes is, or how  
> trustworthy the information is (no offence, Claes!). He doesn't  
> seem to work at Openmoko, so it didn't seem to be first hand  
> information.
>

I see CM in #openmoko all the time .. I know from participating in  
the chat channel that he is an active and avid member of the  
development community.

> When Michael Shiloh's update came on November 26th, he didn't even  
> mention that there would be a fourth hardware revision of the GTA02  
> (until asked).

Well, I don't know how much difference its going to make, to know the  
hardware development details, bit for bit.  For sure, there is a lot  
of anticipation of the GTA02 hardware; but if you are a developer,  
getting a GTA01 makes a lot of sense, too.

What also makes a lot of sense is to understand that OpenMoko will  
run on plenty of other hardware than the GTA02.  So even if you're  
frustrated about the GTA02 non-progress, you can still move along  
with the OM system in terms of getting yourself 'developer  
bootstrapped' with the kit and tools provided, already, to make nice  
applications for the handheld realm.  Linux-on-handhelds is well and  
truly a factor, and a reality, and there's no reason to wait for  
hardware that isn't here yet when there is plenty of hardware around  
already, which will do the same job.

Hint: keep a beady eye on scap.linuxtogo.org .. there is more there  
than meets the eye.


>
> This e-mail is another example (A February target date) of an  
> information rumor "out there" but not communicated from FIC/OpenMoko.

Well, its stratification amongst the community that is creating this  
effect, not any tardiness or lethargy from the FIC/OpenMoko teams.   
Remember: there are very active developers working on OM-platform  
issues (both apps and system-/build-) and not all of them work for  
FIC/OM.
>
> I think it would be good if major news, such as delays in the GTA02  
> development,  were released immediately to the community through  
> Michael. No need to wait two weeks between postings for major  
> events! And please cover the GTA02 developments in more detail and  
> in every community update!
>

I think it would be good for those joansing for a hardware fix to  
realize that the big lead in the OM project is first, a) nice  
hardware (which is there in the GTA01 already), and b) nice software  
(which can run on many different platforms).

If you're sick of waiting for a GTA02 to arrive, maybe you wanna  
spend some time considering whatever else OpenMoko will run on, and  
on the basis of that discovery work out whether getting a GTA01  
already, or waiting a few months for whatever else is out there with  
a target entry in the build system, is more relevant to your needs.

Me, I'm actively hacking on apps which use - and are well supported  
by - a standard set of libs provided by OM.  Its a very comfortable  
target point.  I definitely don't feel 'unsafe' targetting apps to  
use cairo, rsvg, gtk+, etc.

> I would like the feeling as a community member of getting up-to- 
> date and reliable information on major developments by following  
> the Community and Announcements mailing lists.



I don't think anything has been held back of any significant bearing,  
personally, but I've been here for a while and I'm already enjoying  
the _developer_ stages of this whole effort very much .. maybe once  
there are some actual users, not just developers (we're all  
developers here, right?), those mailing lists will become more  
pertinent.

;
--
Jay Vaughan