Questions on firefox os apps
I consider switching from android to firefox os (on my smartphone).
Does somebody know about mozilla's license policy for marketplace apps? Are they all free?
I've heard that those apps are basically just a link to a website; is that right?
In that case, the whole phone would be one single SaaSS and somehow be a step backwards.
If you have a smartphone (if not, please don't give me the "they are all bad" speech, I know it myself), what is your compromise?
What solution do you have at the moment and how content are you with it?
A guy from Mozilla presented FirefoxOS to my Linux User Group. I asked about the license policy in the marketplace, and his answer was "we're not sectarian, any license (include non-free) is fine". Maybe FirefoxOS could be interesting with an alternative marketplace similar to what F-Droid does for the Android world.
My personal compromise is CyanogenMod (Replicant doesn't work on my phone) with F-Droid. I would switch to a freer alternative in a hearbeat, but there doesn't seem to be one (FirefoxOS doesn't seem "more" free than CyanogenMod - or is it?).
That's interesting!
Is Cyanogenmod better than Android when it comes to freedom?
I think of selling my current phone and buying a new one with root access, because i can't afford to brick my device or lose the warranty.
F-droid is great, but unfortunately i can't remove all proprietary apps on my phone because i don't have root power.
>Is Cyanogenmod better than Android when it comes to freedom?
You don't need a Google account, but apart from that, I'm not sure. I refer you to this fine site from the FSFE: https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/android.en.html
And especially to that page:
https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.en.html
Where you can find the following information about Cyanogenmod:
"CyanogenMod is a version of Android which you can use without a Google account. Even though it is usually more free than the software your device comes with, freedom is not its main objective. While CyanogenMod works on most Android devices, it makes use of non-free device drivers and firmware which are fetched from a device and are included in the ROM. Newer versions also include the proprietary Google Play services.
We collected information about how you can help to ensure that CyanogenMod becomes free again, and how to identify and remove non-free parts. If you know about other non-free software applications added to CyanogenMod, please let us know about it!"
Hmm I'm sceptical about the huge benefit.
Nevertheless, thank you!
The reality with phones is that you need the staples like Facebook and Instagram which are non-free. If Firefox OS and Ubuntu phones didn't allow non-free apps, the majority of consumers wouldn't buy them.
Maybe on the marketplace (i.e. Stores on the streets) Facebook and Instagram are somewhat needed (but even then a Tinfoil-for-Facebook-esque solution would free things up a bit), but the real problem is......hardware and its compatibility with free software.
Why is there a need for a Facebook app, anywho? Wouldn't a link to the website suffice? (The mobile Android website uses no non-free JS. I find this to be a good work-around for websites with non-free JS. Change your user-agent to Android.)
Not Youtube, though (though there's Totem, etc for that)