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[REF]Android is now Open Source[Code released]

Android was announce as Open Source 6 hours ago.
Anybody now can download and work over Android.
http://source.android.com/
Let's work together to bring the Android to our loved Elf(in)!
Good luck!
Sry for the english.

Android is now available as open source
Oct 21, 2008 7:52 AM posted by Dave Bort [updated Oct 21, 2008 9:59 AM by Dave Bort]
Today is a big day for Android, the Open Handset Alliance, and the open-source community. All of the work that we've poured into the mobile platform is now officially available, for free, as the Android Open Source Project.
You'll be hearing a lot about Android devices. We've all put a lot of effort into the first Android device, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. But one device is just the beginning.
Android is not a single piece of hardware; it's a complete, end-to-end software platform that can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations. Everything is there, from the bootloader all the way up to the applications. And with an Android device already on the market, it has proven that it has what it takes to truly compete in the mobile arena.
Even if you're not planning to ship a mobile device any time soon, Android has a lot to offer. Interested in working on a speech-recognition library? Looking to do some research on virtual machines? Need an out-of-the-box embedded Linux solution? All of these pieces are available, right now, as part of the Android Open Source Project, along with graphics libraries, media codecs, and some of the best development tools I've ever worked with.
Have a great idea for a new feature? Add it! As an open source project, the best part is that anyone can contribute to Android and influence its direction. And if the platform becomes as ubiquitous as I hope it will, you may end up influencing the future of mobile devices as a whole.
This is an exciting time for Android, and we're just getting started. It takes a lot of work to keep up with the changes in the mobile industry. But we want to do more than just keep up; we want to lead the way, to try things out, to add the new features that everyone else is scrambling to keep up with. But we can't do it without your help.
What will you do with Android?

Damn....i read a bit and then realised this is not gonna work for the Elf
Elfin users yes but not elf......... maybe someone can hack it for elf users or provide a workaround

Please maintain subject line as per posting policy in the announcement. I have edited the same right now in spirit of this discussion. Please bear in mind for further times

Greasemonkey is Here

Re: OilCan
I have recently stumbled across Oilcan, the greasemonkey style browser for android http://www.jsharkey.org/blog/. I've tried it and the default stuff is all very impressive, and to be honest i wanna use it. But its not fully finished, and the Dev has just been employed by google and seems to have abadoned the project. The browser is basic, it appears to be based on an old version of the google browser.
Whats the future of this application? since it was a proof of concept. The only futures i can see are;
he continues development by himself - unlikely
he adds this functionailty nativily to the google browser - unlikely as he's very smart and likely to be on other more interesting projects
The community take up the slack (thats us) use he's code and create a super brower - what i'd quite like to happen. the source is available, and it appears to be quite simple. I think that if it was to be patched into the jf1.41 multitouch brower it would be a killer application.
http://code.google.com/p/android-cookbook/source/browse/#svn/trunk/OilCan?state=closed
Whatcha all think?
DarkFlare

anyone considering this? these are pretty cool features.

well personally im studying the oilcan code, mostly for the user scripts aspect and it seems fairly easy to implement, and so im hacking away the other features to begin with as i dont see much of a use for filling in forms using my android contacts or scanning barcodes and getting there values. So basically im removing the intent code.
My plan is to edit the main browser to add in the userscript functionailty, but im new to the android platform so it could take a while. I can program in java though which gives me a good head start.
Anyone else interested in helping out?

I just found a site where someone is developing user scripts for the Android browser.
At the moment its only a proof of concept but after watching the video is coming along very nicely
http://oilcan.jsharkey.org/
Hopefully it wont be too long before we can get our hands on it

You alreday can get your hands on it.
http://www.jsharkey.org/blog/2008/12/15/oilcan-greasemonkey-on-steroids-for-android/
APK: http://www.jsharkey.org/downloads/OilCan-100.apk

They got some cool scripts on their website that I would like to use but do they work with the g1? It says some will but the top says scripts for firefox. Also... how would we apply the scripts on the g1? Does the app look for them on the sd or what?
EDIT: Nevermind it says you can load them from the sd or browse to them yourself

i guess i should change it from "coming" to "here"
thanks mannyb

Custom Scripts
EDIT: He figured it out between page refreshs

He released this like a month ago before he went to work for google. It was a nice proof of concept but he was done working on it and was asking for someone to take it over.

atrackdog reported to me that someone has OilCan 2.0
I have not found a dload link yet...

It would be nice if someone picked up where he left off, because OilCan 1.0 is buggy as hell. I'd like to see it built into Steel.

Open source softwares on Android platform?

Hi everybody!
It's my first post here, I'm quite a noob at all these Android things, but I got my HTC Hero last year and have been using it quite a lot since then.
I'm also fond of FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open Source Software), and I always try to find an open source equivalent to what I'm using. That's how I switched to Ubuntu Linux 6 years ago and never came back to Windows
I've been looking on the Web, reading Android news websites, and I realized they never talk about open source software being developed for Android phones. At most, they will talk about free (as in beer) softwares, but most of the time these are ad-supported or quickly become ad-supported if they're popular.
For instance, I looked for a music player (cause the one offered by HTC is quite slow and poorly reads OGG music -- yes I'm also in open formats!), and I could only find ad-supported free-ish softwares (MixZing player for instance)... but no open source choice!
On Linux, there are dozens of music players, and of course they're all open source, so you just choose the one you like the best, and even if it doesn't suit you perfectly, you can modify it or develop a plugin for it!
I was wondering if all that was because of the Android Market. Could it be possible to push an open source application on the Android Market? Would it be accepted?
Anyways, to summarize: Is there an open source community on Android?
Thanks in advance!

I'd say yes, you can find many oss in android market, but generally the source is in devs personal page. For instance my apps are open-source, the rom hackers generally give out their source, and more. However i don't know if there are oss apps for all categories...

Hi!
Thanks for your answer! (and congrats for the supertux port )
I'm pretty concerned about the multimedia part... So far:
MixZing Player ==> Ad supported, closed sources
Tune Wiki ==> Ad supported, closed sources
Astro Player ==> Commercial software, closed sources
Cubed ==> Closed sources
etc.
The only one I see was Rock On, which used to be closed sources until the project was discontinued (now the sources are available on github I guess).
As for the other softwares, a lot of them are created by people who think they're going to be rich by selling 0.99 USD softwares... therefore all these softwares are (obviously) closed-sources!

not to be a smart ass but, as long as it works, does it really matter if the source is available?
Yes FOSS is great but if there's a closed source app that does the job I'll use it, there's nothing wrong with closed source vs open when it comes to functionality

Of course, it's mainly a philosophical/ethical topic.
But to give you an example, MixZing recently decided to add an ad-supported system. In the initial release after this system was applied, ads were displayed every 10 seconds, it became almost unusable!
Of course, because a lot of people complained, the MixZin developers changed that. Yet, it's still heavily invaded with ads everywhere...
Another thing is that if you like a software but think it lacks a functionality, with open source you can add it. Of course, it requires technical skills, but the most important thing is that it is possible. With closed source, the only thing you can do is to send a feedback to the developers, then cross your fingers and hope that your request will be implemented in the next version.
A last thing: if the software is discontinued (e.g. the main developers lack of time to keep maintaining the software), the source is available for anybody to maintain it. With closed sources, well... use your software until the next Android update tells you it's too old to run on your system!
By the way, I should twist my fingers 7 times before typing anything: the main developer of RockOn created a project called ^3 (Cubed) which is open source as well, and which has evolved a lot since the last time I checked it! It might become my music player of choice!

I personally use Music Mod. I'm not sure if it's open or not, it's based on the stock music player.
As for open source vs not, I use the best tool for the job. I've used Linux for 11 years and Unix for years before that but I'm no source code tree hugging hippy..
There are many open source software.. I'd have to guess most on code.google.com are open..

arcMedia is based off ffmpeg and so should be OSS
(appbrain playing up today so link here)
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/multimedia/arcmedia_jpez.html

[APP] FlowReader - Save this awesome RSS reader

This is a long shot, but I since the demise of Google Reader (which this app supported) the developer has decided to no longer continue the development of this app. A tragedy; I think we as a community should try and sway him to continue it instead, adding new back ends, both Feedly and TOR (TheOldReader) support would be great. I would love to continue using this app, as it is probably the best RSS reader I have encountered on Android. It is my hope that we can either convince him to continue the project or allow someone else to (any volunteers ?).
Flow Reader gives you an easy way to be on par with your RSS/Google Reader feeds on the go. It was built to provide a minimalist and seamless experience for offline browsing, while delivering additional features not found in similar apps.
Some of the main features include:
- A sleek and fast user interface;
- Offline item content and state caching;
- Multiple simultaneous downloads for fast content synchronization;
- Content filters that automatically mark as read the items you're not interested in;
- Sort items by state (latest/unread/starred) or author;
- Smart algorithms that remove ads and other undesirable content from items;
- No ads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Developer posted this statement in the most recent app update:
As you sure know by now, Google has discontinued the Reader service, so this app is no longer functional.
Although I am very happy with the (unexpected) success of this app, I've decided to no longer update Flow Reader. This is due to several reasons: a) I built this app "for fun" and to my very specific RSS reading needs. Although I very happy to see that a lot of other people enjoyed it, I was in no way ready for attention it received (due to multiple technical and logistic reasons); b)This app was essentially just a prototype turned into a final product. The Code is very messy right now and it's becoming harder and harder to make any further changes, let alone any major ones (like background updates). c) The app is *very* tied to Google Reader backend, which means that giving proper support to another service would require a very significant amount of effort.
I am very thankful to all my users (especially the ones who donated and gave feedback!), but I hope you can understand the reasons behind this decision - continuing to work on this app would require a major rewrite and too much time trying to (once again) and make the pieces all fit with "spit and glue".
If you are interested in any future app I might develop, you can be notified about it by sending me an e-mail using the button below. You will know beforehand of any project I might be working on (and maybe even receive an alpha/beta version of it?).
Thank you again - and hopefully this won't be the end
The Developer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those who have used the app please voice your support to continue the project as I have emailed the developer the link to this thread.

(Flow Reader dev here)
Right, here's what's going on:
Personally, I'm not very happy with any of the current readers on the Play Store, so the idea of building the next iteration of Flow Reader is one that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, I simply don't have the time that I would need to keep developing it any further. I now have a full time job and not much patience to keep working on the app on my spare time.
The thing is, I have several unique ideas that I believe would greatly improve the experience of Flow Reader. Actually, some of these already graduated from just ideas, as some prototyping is already done and working. I also think there is a decent amount of money that could be made from them, so I'm not very willing to just leave them out in the open.
The fact is, though, it is very unlikely that I'll ever finish this new version of the app that I'm building. I can see two options right now:
OPTION 1 - The cooperation route:
- I will pair with another developer (or a small group of developers). Bear in mind that the code is reasonably complex, so i'd rather work with someone that feels confortable around code.
- The code of Flow Reader will remain closed, but shared with the people that want to be part of this project;
- I will take care of the things that I believe to be my greatest strength: UIX and prototyping. But I will always be open to suggestions on these areas.
- The profit of the app will be split 25% (for me) and 75% (for the other developer(s)).
OPTION 2 - The free route:
- I open up the code of Flow Reader under the condition that it will forever remain open-source and free (under an attribution, no derivatives and no commercial use licence).
- I will no longer will have any direct input or cooperation on the app.
Also, I honestly think it would be better to start the app from scratch. The code is a complete mess right now so trying to build more features upon it would just be less efficient. Still, some techniques and code used in Flow Reader could be reused to save some time.

Choices
I have been a user of Flow Reader for some time and was really sad when it stopped working and that the dev stated that there was no longer going to be updates to continue after the demise of Google Reader.
That said, I totally agree that it should be continued into the post-Google Reader era of RSS news. I originally created a post on Reddit in which I stated that for the continuality of Flow one idea would be to open source the code on a git site to allow others to progress his work further.
Understandably this poses the risk of Flow Reader loosing it's (work)Flow. All that time and effort the dev put in to creating a stunning, and above all easily functional, UIX could well be lost. On the other hand the simplicity of this RSS reader coupled with its parallel article downloading feature would live on and enrich many an Android RSS fans.
So here I am on XDA, stating my opinions for the two options presented.
For the Closed Sourced Approach:
The idea of sharing the workload will mean that whoever is chosen to work on Flow Reader will most likely have a great deal of knowledge to input in to this project. It also means that the UIX will not change without considerable thought first. This I applaud.
The fact that the developer says that the proceeds of the app will be divvied up indicates to a paid app, further indicating to (hopefully) a group of developers with the incentive to push great work "out the door".
For the Open Sourced Approach:
The hands of many a developer could make this app into something even better than it already is....
...or it could ruin it with out the guidance of the one who had the vision in the beginning.
Usually in the open source community when there is a bug and/or a missing feature, if someone with the appropriate know how can fix it, it shall be done.
A question, then, to WildMoves. Would those who have donated need to pay again once it arrives back on the play store? That is if you are going to make it a paid for only app?
Either way, with the way that Flow Reader handles feeds I honestly have never, and believe never shall, discover one better. To which I would like to say that no matter which direction the dev goes, I will support and give as much feedback as I can.
Again, great work mate and keep on coding,
Skinna a.k.a Skinnx86

Skinna said:
I originally created a post on Reddit in which I stated that for the continuality of Flow one idea would be to open source the code on a git site to allow others to progress his work further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, when I posted my answer I was still trying to develop the next iteration of Flow Reader. I built a prototype to test several ideas before I came to the realization that I couldn't build the full app the way I wanted to in a feasible amount of time and still... well... live. :\ So I am now receptive to offset most of the workload to a developer or group of developers (hence the 25/75 profit split).
Skinna said:
A question, then, to WildMoves. Would those who have donated need to pay again once it arrives back on the play store? That is if you are going to make it a paid for only app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the email addresses of everyone who donated, so I could probably create a mailing list to deliver full versions of the (paid) app outside the Play Store. Assuming that I would have the approval from the other developers, it would be a good sign of gratitude to those who donated, IMO.

Reasonable Thoughts
Well a man has to live. To spend your free time developing and building something you would expect some payback of some sort. But thank you for remembering us early adaptors. I know I for one will be thankful, I can but imagine others will be too.
As much as I was appreciative of the beta's being sent to us, but in case you did not hear, Facebook updated some peoples app out side of the play store. Now Google have banned out-of-market beta testing. I believe that sending an apk to install initially will work and should update through the play store correctly.

Official kodi™ foundation Help

Kodi™ Foundation are ready to end Android support and development !!
ARE YOU ????
Call out for developers
As you may or may not know is that Kodi is maintained by a group of volunteers since its first inception dating back to the original XBOX days. Over the years many volunteers have spent countless days if not months on every aspects of what makes Kodi great. This consist of writing and maintaining the code base of Kodi, expanding to new platforms, maintaining the forum, wiki, website and download server and more……
So why do we need you? Well the fact is that over the years the core team of Kodi has remained about the same size while the amount of users went from couple of thousand to many, many millions. Not forgetting the fact that it went from only a XBOX application to what is now running on Linux, Windows, iOS, OSX, Android. All this still with the same amount of people. Now comes the time that we will actually start calling out for some help. To put it simple we want to ensure that Kodi remains alive on all platforms while at the same time lowering the support burden each developer now faces these days. Each of the core developers has his own specialty and since Kodi is quite big you quickly run out of developers that know enough of certain sections. Add to that the changes needed for each operating system upgrade that happens and all the problems that arise with that.
To put it in perspective we basically have only 1 developer for each section or even complete platform. As already mentioned the entire team consists of volunteers which means everything is done in their spare time next to having an actual day time job and a personal life. This results in having only a few hours at most to spend on what they see as their hobby which i can say they are passionate about.*Over the years the team consisted of many different developers who gave all they could but due to whatever reason had to change priorities which resulted in not spending time in Kodi anymore.
So in short what we are looking for are C/C++ developers who are willing to put in some of their spare time in maintaining and improving our core code. This can either be doing some minor bugfixing, reviewing existing pull requests for code contributions or even creating some of their own code refactoring or feature additions. It really doesn’t matter if you are just a student just starting out on C/C++ or are already a senior programmer. We would welcome anyone who is willing to do their part on any improvement that is needed. A fair warning is that our codebase isn’t for the faint hearted as it’s quite massive and we are quite strict regarding code review before we merge anything. However don’t let this frighten you off as our current (or outside developers) will certainly give you pointers on improvements to get it included.
What we currently need most are developers with knowledge of the following components to improve current implementations:
• Windows DirectX11 / audio / video•*Android NDK / audio / video• iOS & OSX / audio / video• General knowledge of C/C++ and willing to do some coding in areas of their interest.
Any bugfix can be send to our main github code repository for review straight away. If you are not sure or want to take on a bigger task or change feel free to open up a thread on our forum where you write down your proposal to get some initial feedback.
Wiki pages to get you started:*http://kodi.wiki/view/Development
Forum:*Developer sucbsection
Code on Github:*https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc
Regards As Always