Symbian

Symbian, the mobile Operating System

Why iPhone still ruleZ

Feb 17th

I’m going to make a simple point. And because people that know me think I’m a “unfair-Google-aficionado-that-doesn’t-see-how-evil-Google-is”, I’m going to use Android as victim here.

iPhone ruleZ

Other OS? I’m not even taking into consideration old stuff like Symbian: is just too easy to trash it now-days (Qt is a whole different story though).
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Snippet: fix Screen Orientation in a Qt/S60 app

Aug 11th

Posted by Detro in IT / Comp-Sci / Code

2 comments

I follow the Qt/S60 Mailing list, that is turning out to be a very interesting and active ML, and the Qt Labs blog, always full of very good code, written directly by the guys of Qt Software. I thought could be nice to start to post some of the stuff I’m learning.

#include <eikenv .h>
#include <eikappui .h>
#include <aknenv .h>
#include <aknappui .h>
// ...
// lock orientation
CAknAppUi* appUi = static_cast<caknappui *>( CEikonEnv::Static()->AppUi() );
if ( appUi ) //< Actually, this will always pass. It's a "static_cast" after all...
{
   appUi->SetOrientationL( CAknAppUi::EAppUiOrientationPortrait );
}
// ...

Today’s source is: Nokia Forum.

“Improving the developer experience”, Symbian Foundation blog: my comment

May 18th

Posted by Detro in IT / Comp-Sci / Code

No comments

I just wrote a comment to an article I read on the Symbian Foundation blog: “Improving the developer experience“, by David Wood.

I think it’s worth replicating it here:

detronizator Says:
May 18, 2009 at 9:58 AM

@Mark Burton: I had EXACTLY the same experience. It was like jumping back to the “future” of software development and see that IT’S NOT MANDATORY to have to deal with ANCIENT C++ to write software for mobile.
More funny: it’s all based on Open Source/Open Standard technologies, like gdb and qemu!!!

@wtr1: Did you ever see Android running on the Emulator (because that’s what it is: WINSCW is a SIMULATOR)? And Symbian itself? I did when I was there. A guy started working on Symbian for QEMU, achieving to start th OS in a 10th of the time, if not less. Even faster than ANDROID to boot!!!
But at that time people took me as a fool for supporting this guy so strongly…
Seriously: WINSCW is “theoretically” faster but so badly written that it’s actually slower.

@David Wood: I basically agree with you, but to say that “there isn’t such a Symbian controlled by manufacturers”, it’s what I’ll call “more than just a personal and partial opinion”.
The control and the “steering” of THE manufacturer (who said “Nokia?”) was in every step that was taken in Symbian. And that was absolutely “correct”: after all Nokia owned the most of it.
Now you are “step by step” trying to change this. But the problems you are dealing today are heritage of a “not so far past”. And, as you said yourself, “it’s not going to change overnight”.

A last thought: I’m realizing that the most of those posts are focused on discussing the “technical philosophy”, “political moves”, “current market”, “business model” of Symbian but… are we ever actually going to discuss technical and more interesting stuff?
And, bear in mind, this is not a critic to the audience here, neither to the bloggers (who always arise good, important and interesting points): my critic is to make people realize that the problems of this Platform are so “deep in developers soul” and “frustrating for beeing so old complex”, that the main discuss driver is always away from the technical stuff.

For example: what about “common mistakes made by C++ developers and how symbian address and solve them” or “how to build a Client-Server architecture in 5 minutes” or “how to optimize performance of a UI-intensive application” or “how to generate JSON files in your web-based S60 app”… and I could say more.
Developers, at least of my age, want code, snippets, smart patterns and so on…

My 5 cents.

PS Please, bear in mind that WINSCW is a “SIMULATOR”, while QEMU is an “EMULATOR”, like the ARM one that Nokia preferred to QEMU… and we are still waiting here!
PPS At least this is the definition you can find on books from Tanenbaum or Sterling.

«Mom, I want to do Open Source too…»

May 6th

Posted by Detro in Curiosity

1 comment

After I received an email, this imaginary story came to my mind:

Kiddo>Mom, my friend G. Android came today at school and said “he is Open Source and it’s cooooool”. Not everyone understood in it and ignored him. Then we all got it, and he became very popular. Can I do it too? Pleeeeeease!!!
Mom>Ok S. Symbian, but don’t forget that you need to explain IP, binary compatibility, Active Objects, Descriptors… and you can’t give away all the secrets of your mommy away to those Open Source folks.
Kiddo>But moooom, this is not really…
Mom>Hey young man! This is my house and I say what you can do and can’t do. You do Open Source, but in my way! Nokia way!

The email was the 3rd or so in which Symbian Foundation guys apologize about something that doesn’t work or is missing from the website. Sometimes is the login, sometimes is the registration, sometimes is Mercurial…

I’ll never forget how many time I repeated to all the folks in Symbian (while the Nokia “Open Sourcing Plan” was rolled out): «Saying you are Open Source, doesn’t make you so. You need to know HOW to be Open Source: just giving the code could be not enough».

Note: I know this post is going to “piss off” a lot of guys in (and out) the Foundation, but… this is another part of being Open Source: understand critics, learn from them and get better at what you do.