Mozilla Foundation Develops its Own Operating System

[btarunr]

One of the biggest promoters of open source software, and the group behind one of the most popular web-browsers, Mozilla Foundation, has undertaken a project of developing a mobile operating system referred to as "B2G" or Boot to Gecko, with the catchphrase "booting to the web". We expect it to be functionally modeled somewhere between Google's Android and Chrome operating systems. Essentially it is an operating system that boots to the web-browser that can get you browsing the web directly, or use cloud-based application software.

B2G might target a variety of devices ranging from smartphones to tablets and netbooks. Smartphone essentials such as telephony, SMS, camera, Bluetooth, NFC (near-field communication) and USB, will work with the browser via new web APIs. Applications can be cloud-based widgets, or software that uses open developer environments. Basic applications will be functionally identical to many of the apps that ship with Android or even Apple iOS. What's more, B2G's kernel and booting substrate will be designed to be 100% compatible with today's Android-compatible devices such as phones and tablets, so manufacturers don't have to redesign anything on their side. At this stage the project is still in its infancy, and is seeking community participation, the same participation that made Firefox and Thunderbird applications with the quality of proprietary software.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Mussels]

i'm not sure how well this will work, is there really a market for yet another mobile OS?

 

[MikeMurphy]

OS accessible through a browser?

Yes, I think so.

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/...-landscape-with-new-boot-to-gecko-project.ars

 

[micropage7]

i dont think thats a good idea
first we have many os from symbian, bada, ios, android, windows etc
second most of phone maker have their 'exclusive' os, like nokia with symbian, meego and winmo. samsung with bada
third. the question is whats new from it? if they just offer the same thing they gonna end in junkyard

 

[FordGT90Concept]

i'm not sure how well this will work, is there really a market for yet another mobile OS?

I concur, especially another *nix-based one.

 

[Frick]

i dont think thats a good idea
first we have many os from symbian, bada, ios, android, windows etc
second most of phone maker have their 'exclusive' os, like nokia with symbian, meego and winmo. samsung with bada
third. the question is whats new from it? if they just offer the same thing they gonna end in junkyard

Symbian is dead, meego is pretty much dead, WinMo is dead and Bada is so new and not talked about at all.

We have iOS, Android and WP7 and that's it for now on the phone side. Tablets/netbooks have a wider range of OSes. Windows, iOS, Android and Chrome which still is very new.

Don't know what to think about it. I think I'll wait a bit.

 

[Mussels]

the only market i see an opening in, is media players and internet ready TV's.


even those would be better with android level devices IMO - how cool would a HDTV that could run android apps be?

 

[Red_Machine]

Give me one that's x86/64 native and we'll talk. Not interested in mobile OSes right now.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

the only market i see an opening in, is media players and internet ready TV's.

Yeah, this is an area that has a lot of interest but nothing has really gained much traction yet because of the dominance of satellite and cable set-top boxes.

 

[micropage7]

yeah we just have android, ios and maybe windows.
i agree to wait for a while since its pretty new

 

[Steevo]

Problem with internet ready TV is it isn't a phone, so you don't replace it every year, then apps wont work, sites die or the specs become beyond what is required......


A PC does all of that and can be upgraded, tweaked, supports multiple OS choices and it won't break the use of the TV if it fails.

 

[btarunr]

I concur, especially another *nix-based one.

Being *nix based doesn't make it "the same thing" or redundant. Android and iOS are both *nix based, but entirely different operating systems.

Think of the *nix base as "internal combustion engine". All internal combustion engines work essentially in the same way, but there's a difference between the 100 cc scooter engine and the one that drives a car.

 

[Mindweaver]

Symbian is dead, meego is pretty much dead, WinMo is dead and Bada is so new and not talked about at all.

We have iOS, Android and WP7 and that's it for now on the phone side. Tablets/netbooks have a wider range of OSes. Windows, iOS, Android and Chrome which still is very new.

Don't know what to think about it. I think I'll wait a bit.

Don't forget about HP WebOS, which is PalmOS.

 

[Thatguy]

i'm not sure how well this will work, is there really a market for yet another mobile OS?

Yes, and the more the merrier, hopefully that starts to bleed down to desktop in a usefull way.although the cloud makes me want to yak.

 

[remixedcat]

Wow the Mozilla people are crazy! But I kinda like this idea though. Hope it allows for offline access.

 

[1freedude]

Don't forget about HP WebOS, which is PalmOS.

WebOS is not PalmOS. WebOS wasn't even developed by Palm; ACCESS, instead. I owned the 1.0.1 Pre up until 1.0.3. I would love to use it again, but I don’t trust the hardware it uses.

On the other hand, give me a copy of this OS; Android is starting to bore me.

 

[Frick]

Don't forget about HP WebOS, which is PalmOS.

Ahh yes that one too. Also pretty darn absent.

 

[seronx]

But can it play FlashCrysis?

 

[sparkyar]

we already have windows, and looking at firefox development in the last couple of years... we dont need another memory hungry OS

 

[Mussels]

we already have windows, and looking at firefox development in the last couple of years... we dont need another memory hungry OS

not to mention a new OS (version 1! 2! 3! 11!) every month

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Being *nix based doesn't make it "the same thing" or redundant. Android and iOS are both *nix based, but entirely different operating systems.

Think of the *nix base as "internal combustion engine". All internal combustion engines work essentially in the same way, but there's a difference between the 100 cc scooter engine and the one that drives a car.

You can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.

 

[Thatguy]

You can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.

a Louise Gaase fan eh ?

 

[Swansen]

Symbian is dead, meego is pretty much dead, WinMo is dead and Bada is so new and not talked about at all.

We have iOS, Android and WP7 and that's it for now on the phone side. Tablets/netbooks have a wider range of OSes. Windows, iOS, Android and Chrome which still is very new.

Don't know what to think about it. I think I'll wait a bit.

MeeGo is not dead at all man, open source source software does not always work in a linear way like closed source software, deadlines and things do not always apply. Saying MeeGo is dead is like saying ReactOS is dead because there are months of no "updates" or that HaikuOS is dead because its taken years to make like three bugfixes(over exaggeration). Anyways, i'll quit, and i'm not attacking you, just attempting to make a point. http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/28/th...oduct-page-for-the-meego-eee-pc-x101-netbook/ Asus is making a MeeGo Netbook.

 

[Frick]

MeeGo is not dead at all man, open source source software does not always work in a linear way like closed source software, deadlines and things do not always apply. Saying MeeGo is dead is like saying ReactOS is dead because there are months of no "updates" or that HaikuOS is dead because its taken years to make like three bugfixes(over exaggeration). Anyways, i'll quit, and i'm not attacking you, just attempting to make a point. http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/28/th...oduct-page-for-the-meego-eee-pc-x101-netbook/ Asus is making a MeeGo Netbook.

I knew that they worked on it but as it will not be funded by Nokia anymore I assume(d) it will be if not die be slowed down. Which is a shame, it's the one mobile OS i'm interested in.

I'm not sure I'd use it one a netbook though.

 

[Swansen]

I knew that they worked on it but as it will not be funded by Nokia anymore I assume(d) it will be if not die be slowed down. Which is a shame, it's the one mobile OS i'm interested in.

I'm not sure I'd use it one a netbook though.

Maemo yes, Maemo was backed by Nokia and yeah, did look pretty cool. Moblin(which is still around in various forms) was just a very small and fun linux OS. Of which, if you do an image search for Moblin you'll get a good idea of what i imagine MeeGo will look like(as maemo and moblin merged to make meego). Moblin was pretty cool, and, there were some graphical desktops using moblin.