Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason?
When discussing Firefox OS, it's perfectly reasonable and relevant to bring up issues surrounding the quality and the ease of acquiring devices that run Firefox OS. These factors have an absolutely massive impact on the experience of everyone involved, from developers to end users, and will directly influence the ability of Firefox OS to capture any substantial share of the market.
Attacking the people who raise awareness of these very real problems with these unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about "astroturfing" or weird accusations of "anger at Mozilla" won't do Mozilla or anyone else any good.
Instead, maybe listen to what people are saying! The limited availability of phones running Firefox OS is causing people problems, and affecting its adoption and usefulness. The devices it has been available on so far have not been very good, even compared to where Android and iOS were years ago. People aren't just making these problems up; they're very real problems! The same goes for problems that people bring up about Firefox, or Rust, or any of Mozilla's other offerings.
Admitting to the existence of these problems, and then resolving them, will have a much more positive impact than attacking anyone who happens to bring them up. The fact that people have to bring them up again and again indicates that they aren't being resolved properly, and that more work is needed.
The topic is Firefox OS. Anything having to do with Firefox OS is worth discussing, and is perfectly valid discussion. That includes its problems. That includes how it is (or is failing to) compete with established players like iOS and Android. That includes the sorry state of the devices it comes with.
Deviation is perfectly fine. The point of the discussion is to share ideas. It's not to engage in mindless affirmation of whatever the linked-to article may say.
I bought a ZTE Open off of ebay back in April. My Nexus 4 broke in July. I have been using the ZTE Open as my daily device since.
I built from source (Boot2Gecko 1.4.0.0-prerelease) and, from my experience:
- Sometimes when I open an MMS message and click the back button, my phone reboots - If I open a content-heavy webpage or app the app will force close - Sometimes when I'm scrolling through the gallery app my phone freezes - Sometimes my handset earpiece doesn't work and I have to make calls on speakerphone - Sometimes the camera app freezes after taking a picture
Now, I'm not sure if these are issues with the ZTE Open's specs, the state of the build I flashed, or the method in which I flashed it, but those are my daily struggles using the phone.
That being said, as a phone (phone calls + sms + mms) it works, mostly.
I haven't been keeping it updated though. I should build the most recent and flash it soon.
I'm sorry but he's right. The OS is not good, the phones are not powerful, they are barely available and because they are web based they have no unique selling point over any other platform.
You can get more powerful Android phones for cheaper and they run more stuff.
It makes absolutely no sense to consider Firefox OS by itself. It needs to be considered within the larger context. Unfortunately, like others have pointed out, Firefox OS is not competing very well against the alternatives at this point.
It currently provides a worse experience than its competitors in pretty much every way. I don't think this is something that can be denied. Mozilla and the Firefox OS community will need to face these problems.
And these "astroturfer" accusations from you are kind of weird. Pointing out obvious flaws with software and hardware does not mean that the people pointing them out are being paid by Apple, or Google, or any other company or organization. It probably just means that they'd like to see these problems resolved, for the sake of Firefox OS and its potential success.
Discussion about which is a better option for the consumer is a very valid discussion and is important to the long term survival of the platform. But, in my opinion, it just doesn't have anything to do with the topic at hand.
It's like if there was an article about a release of the next version of Android and someone came in taking about how the smaller subset of target screen sizes in iOS make it a better platform to design for. Its a valid discussion, but just doesn't have anything to do with the topic at hand.
The "astroturfer" comment is because I can't see any sane reason, beyond self interest or possibly just to troll, why anyone would bother to hop into a thread and just say Android is better when there was no mention about Android in the article at hand.
The thread (if you have missed it) was about Firefox OS devices and how a person was recommending against buying a device. I agree with this sentiment and was mentioning that there are cheaper Android devices which are a better purchase.
> You also just kind of seem like an astroturfer.
Take off your tinfoil hat. Just accept that some people do not like Firefox OS or the devices.
No where in the start of this thread or in the article did it involve which system is the best, nor did it ever even mention Android, iOS etc etc.