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Hello everybody on XDA developers,
I found a lot of useful information on this site, don't get me wrong BUT.
More and more I'm getting under the impression that new topics often get no or little replay because the user is either a newbie or he asked a question which has been asked before. Now, I'm no newbie although I'm not an expert either. I asked several questions and the responses are poor.
There is so much information (most of the time too complicated for non computer specialists) that it is often easier to launch a new topic. However, if one doesn't talk or know about, changing .nbf files, writing Batch files replacing HimaUpgradeUT.exe files and only God knows what else, you get little or no response.
The day somebody asks me, in some aviation forum, about the pressure changes in a JET engine which is going from SUBSONIC to SUPERSONIC flight or the aerodynamic effects on a helicopter rotor which is going into autorotation or other pilot related stuff, will get an answer adapted to his knowledge so he will understand what I'm saying. What else is the use of a forum?
Maybe XDA-developers should add a forum for the "less gifted" in the Forum index.
Anyway, Happy New Year to all of you.
well maybe if the problem is that the specialists have little patience or problems transfering their knowlage into something mear humans can understand the new forum would just have a pile of unanswered threads
i think the problem you address are really 2 problems
1
general pocketpc questions mainly i think from people who are used to cellphones and cant call themselfs superusers on normal pc's they need it explained in a cellphone kinda way. these are questions like
how do i make IE stop displaying pictures and stuff like that
2
people who dont really know that much about complex stuff like changing their rom and manualy intering all the grps settings, in the new rom
and adding things to their extented rom and such
these people often would mostly benefit from a guide with pictures and possible a list of the most used cellphone company settings
I'm not sure I understand your first point, but I do agree on your second one.
Now we only need someone with lots of time and motivation to make such guidelines with step by step instructions and pictures...
Greetings
Hi guys,
so, as there are some possibilities, and the question arised, here's a little poll for you.
It's about how developers and users/testers of Android should best communicate.
Quick overview:
This thread has 4k+ entries now, but many people are watching it. It's more like an IRC channel, though.
The Linux-To-Go site has 4 different trackers (bugs, patches, support, feature requests), and a news system and a little bit more. Sometimes it is quite slow, but since they've just got a new sponsor, I think they're working out how to distribute the load.
I have already asked whether we can have a subforum, and the site admin seemed positive about it, but wanted to see into which directions the Mod's discussions were.
If you have a better idea, please post!
Stefan
I prefer the googlecode bugtracker, since the most people dosnt need to create an new account, it is simple but powerfull. And the ui looks much better then the Linux-To-Go one.
Looks like guys here voting mostly for just subforum. May I suggest in this case that there would be few sticky topics for guides/overall discussion and the rest is topic per bug type-o-thing? Someone would be a moderator, of course.
it doesn't even matter what we / you think - the only votes that matter are the ones of the developers.
git seems to work quite well for developing - if ltg is too slow - it shouldn't be a problem to clone it to a faster repo elsewhere (afaik there's already a faster one in place - can't remember the address) - also after the initial setup it doesn't really matter how slow it is anymore (unless you don't know how to use git and constantly start over from scratch).
As for bugtracking - are there developers interested in bugtracking? I think they're well aware of what needs work.
(e.g. for Polaris it's documented in the wiki)
What we really need at the moment is kernel developers for various devices.
just my 2 ¢
Tip
I don't dislike the idea of a full thread as it was...but i feel we should split threats into 50 posts. After could be "Part II" , "Part III"...etc.
Hugs
excogitation said:
As for bugtracking - are there developers interested in bugtracking? I think they're well aware of what needs work.
(e.g. for Polaris it's documented in the wiki)
What we really need at the moment is kernel developers for various devices.
just my 2 ¢
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Actually, I suggested a bug tracker, even for developers-internal use because then one can see what the other devs are working on and that one doesn't have to care about the problem...
More developers would be good, of course!!
Stefan
seidler2547 said:
Actually, I suggested a bug tracker, even for developers-internal use because then one can see what the other devs are working on and that one doesn't have to care about the problem...
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There is more to it. First, more eyes will be able to find more bugs. Second, bug tracker allows instead of keeping all bugs in head, constantly trying to remember them all, keep in head only one on which working currently, while the rest is recorded in database according to their priority. No one has superhuman memory. Also, bugtracking important because people generally happier with product that is with not too many features but robust rather than product with whole bunch of awesomeness but also hosting whole hive of bugs. Here's good article on bugtracking.
Thanks MooNWalker. Seems we should try to push a bit more for a subforum, and use the bugtracker for the reasons you said. We should see if the LTG one can be extended so that people will not have to sign up in order to make contributions. The site itself seems fast right now.
Stefan
Ok, we will try with the bugtracker.
Go here to see the bugs and to enter new ones.
Stefan
@seidler2547: Can you change something there? It is currently not obvious that this is the bugtracker for Kaiser Android. You have to know that this is the right place there. If i was new here and i what to fast post a bug, i will be very confused if the bugtracker is the right one.
Hi lanwin, dzo set up the tracker name. Anyway, it is a bit cryptic because it is not only for Kaiser Android. It is for running Linux (and with it Android) on MSM7x00 devices, that is Kaiser, Nike, Polaris, Vogue and so on. We have a common hardware base, so we coordinate our development. You know you're on the right bug tracker because -> the link here says so, and -> this is the only one in mobile-linux you can report bugs without logging in
Having said that, we can think about the name nevertheless. What do you suggest?
Stefan
Hi Stefan, yep i know that but a non technical user wouldn't do. Even if it is ugly, i suggest "Android for Kaiser, Nike, Polaris, Vogue (MSM7x00)".
Anyway, thanks for bringing Android for this platforms forward!
new sub forum
i think a sub forum is good because it will allow for more specific threads.
it will also allow us to get an rss feed of all things android
finally, can't the current long thread just be moved into the sub-forum? no one will be forced to start or look at new threads, but it will be there.
Does it really affect anything in a negative way or preclude the other options?
Android development is only going to pickup, and i expect we will see a corresponding drop off in WM.
Lets think about what the development scene is going to look like in 2 years... even after we've all moved on from our current phones.
The question is: Can/Should/Will xda-devs be the place for android development too?
seidler2547 said:
Having said that, we can think about the name nevertheless. What do you suggest?
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Put link to bugtracker in Android on HTC wiki. Might be helpfull to put it in first post on main thread.
I think this bugtracker was for the full Android port, but it seems that it is only for the kernel so all my bugs are closed with "This is not related to this project (Linux kernel for mobile devices) but to the google android user space and must hence be moved.".
Where to report user spaces related bugs?
That is a good question. I have seen the close, but I'm not too happy with it, although I understand the reasons. Maybe we need to make an extra google bugtracker, as someone suggested.
Stefan
I think the original android post has really become quite cumbersome, I voted for a subforum but I don't really care as long as I am able to see what is going on. The old post has become unorganized there are a bunch of different sites and stuff on that post to get builds and kernels and what not from and I have become somewhat confused with it all. I am curious though as to how many people are actually working on this at our end the only one I see actively posting is seidler is dzo or polypoly still working on it. I'm having problems getting some of the files required listed on source.android.com fiqured I would give it a wack, probly a short wack.
seidler2547 said:
That is a good question. I have seen the close, but I'm not too happy with it, although I understand the reasons. Maybe we need to make an extra google bugtracker, as someone suggested.
Stefan
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This was me I am against a sub forum. Forums are very bad in cases of a bugtracking functionality because there is no bug management available and users tend to use one thread for bug reporting, questions and discussion where it is really hard to find out the bugs for the devs.
I think there should only be one bugtracker for the users because the most of them can not distinguish between user space and kernel space bugs and requests.
I suggest to open a user friendly google code bugtracker and some of the devs move bugs related to kernel space over to the other bugtracker.
These past weeks I've noticed an increase of irrelevant threads and clutter being made in regards to Android development in the HTC Dream forum and every other Android development forum on xda. A lot of Android devices out on the market now are not made by HTC. This of course is causing a problem since this forum is for HTC devices only.
Maybe it would be a good idea if a new forum was created that accounts for all native Android devices (Motorola Droid/Milestone, Motorola Cliq/Dext, Samsung Galaxy, etc...). That way, a lot of the clutter would surely be resolved and a considerate load would be taken off of this server (Gotta hate the horrible load on xda these days...).
I'm sure there are quiet a few people on here that have an HTC device and are fully satisfied with it (Me included!). That doesn't mean that everyone else has to feel the same way. People that choose to go with Samsung, Motorola, etc. for their next Android device should not be left out. That's why I believe there should definitely be a forum that serves everyone.
To put up a new forum specifically for this matter takes no time at all, but it does take participation. So if you feel like this is something you would like to see, please feel free to leave a comment.
What are you're opinions on this matter? Agree? Disagree?
Discuss.
If there's enough people interested in this project, would there be anyone willing to help getting things started in terms of hosting space or something similar?
Sorry, I misunderstood "a new forum was created that accounts for all native Android devices" to mean that a new subforum on XDA should be made, so I voted no. Upon reading it again, I realized you meant to create an independant Android specific site, which I would actually be in favor of. So while I can't change my vote officially, you should know that one of the "No" votes should actually be considered a "Yes" vote.
Yea, sorry. I meant that there should be a completly new forum for all android devices (not a subforum on xda). Thanks for your vote!
Like I mentioned before, there are definitely more people who agree than those who disagree. Only problem will be to spread the word I guess.
I think XDA-Developers needs to be divided into a Windows Mobile and an Android section and those need to be further divided into HTC and non-HTC ones.
With more and more Android devices, and rising competition for HTC from Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson etc., XDA-Developers cannot stay WM-focused and HTC-only without becoming irrelevant and losing its no.1 status for everything concerning WM and Android development.
EDIT: OR make independent, but linked together, sites for WM and Android and for different manufacturers.
maati said:
EDIT: OR make independent, but linked together, sites for WM and Android and for different manufacturers.
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That's what I'm thinking as well.
I forsee good things to come from this. Or the thread just being closed.
There needs to be a WinMo forum and Android Forum that are both linked from the home page.
I would be all for this, and would be more than happy to fund the project. Hosting, domain fees, coding ect..
I agree completely. It's also annoying to see various large Android Community sites popping up, which deal with everything android, including all models, which includes HTC models... because they are invading the "mindshare", if you will, of "where does one go to get best development and mod info for android OS phones?" ... When the first Android devices were only HTC, this was not an issue, as HTC was correctly housed here and had Android devices forums added.
But yes, the whole touchscreen marketplace has erupted and fractured in the last 6 months, and it would be a bad thing, in my view, if XDA were to become relegated to a "boutique" site, that was great with SOME andorid devices, but AWOL on others.. And as the original poster notes, there is only bound to be more and more cross-device discussion and innovation developments for the whole android platform.
my 3 cents...
maati said:
I think XDA-Developers needs to be divided into a Windows Mobile and an Android section and those need to be further divided into HTC and non-HTC ones.
With more and more Android devices, and rising competition for HTC from Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson etc., XDA-Developers cannot stay WM-focused and HTC-only without becoming irrelevant and losing its no.1 status for everything concerning WM and Android development.
EDIT: OR make independent, but linked together, sites for WM and Android and for different manufacturers.
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Click to collapse
So are most of you in favor that an independent site for Android-only devices should be made (WinMo-only devices could also be added later on to another section).
Or do you think that xda should try to change their forum around so that it will fulfill our needs?
Bavilo said:
So are most of you in favor that an independent site for Android-only devices should be made (WinMo-only devices could also be added later on to another section).
Or do you think that xda should try to change their forum around so that it will fulfill our needs?
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I'm totally new to Android; have not even purchased my HERO yet. So take this with a grain of salt... but to me, I think the train already left the station... In the past three weeks as I have investigated HTC Hero, I have encountered 4 or 5 rather substantial communities already built around Android.... I will just list a few of them. Being truthful, there have been very few poll participants here... and it may well be the case that what you are envisioning as a resource already exists -- it's just not here.
So, to me, you either have to (A) turn the whole mothership around (XDA-devs) and try to make a case for why non-HTC devices should fit in more officially here (they are already accomodated "unofficially" and have been for quite some time on the WinMo side -- with tons of questions asked in many a forum about "What about the Omnia? can you release that for Omnia?" and same for Sony Xperia, as just two examples....
or (B) bridge-out to one or more of the communities already developed around modding Android phones... (but again, I am prob the wrong person to comment since I am brand new to Android... )
http://androidforums.com/
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/index.php
http://forum.androidcentral.com/
http://modmygphone.com/forums/
To me, most of those sites just feel like user communities but not any real development like here at XDA.
narunetto said:
To me, most of those sites just feel like user communities but not any real development like here at XDA.
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That's exactly what I want to change. And thanks to Craiger22 this might be possible very soon!
I do think this site needs to drop it's HTC bias to be honest. It makes choosing a new handset quite horrible. On one hand HTC devices get software support on this forum (which is still the best out there). But on the other hand there are some very nice non-HTC devices coming up. It makes choosing a handset a lot harder.
Fair enough if there's some sort of official affiliation with HTC, I can understand that. But is it not just some nostalgic bias relating to the origins of this site? That's the way I understand it anyway.
Personally there's no HTC hardware I want right now and I think that it's a shame that when I replace my X1 I will (if the HTC hardware situation remains similar to how it is now) wind up leaving this community.
I've been an XDA user for a few years now, and for the most part I have found it to be a great source of help and information across a wide range of devices and platforms... up until recently.
I have always had a strong interest in mobile phones/devices. And when I got my first smart phone in 2008 my interest was piqued further. I am not a developer, and I don’t intend on becoming one. I am a user. I love customization, apps, games and everything about smart phones (started on Winows Mobile, and I now use Android).
The way I understand it… XDA was started as a developer’s site/forum… for developers. Over the years it began to evolve into a non-exclusive community. Anyone could ask for help on any range of smart phone topics – which I thought was great.
Lately it seems that XDA has been trying to get back to their roots… that is to say, they are trying to make the forums more developer exclusive. I can only say that is a bad thing from a selfish stand point. Of course if I were a developer I might take issue with my forums being flooded with non-developer related (and therefore… irrelevant) threads and posts. I am in no position to criticize the site managers about what type of site they wish to run and how they want to run it. But XDA is becoming useless to me. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find help on non-development related topics.
So… Can someone please recommend another (more user-orientated) site? I like to ask questions on a range of topics; some device specific, some about how to use apps, some game hints, some general android queries, app recommendations, etc. Is there a better forum for a user like me?
Thanks for any help.
I used to frequent http://www.teambamf.net/ when I had my HTC Thunderbolt, Yea, it was my first smart phone.
They do a lot with Samsung phones, you might want to take a look and see what they have to offer.
CharlesTheMan is willing to help anyone who asks, they're good guys.
If you can't find what you want there, just ask, they can tell you what you need to do and recommend where to go if they can't answer your questions.
It always pays to search for different alternatives, I work in an IT department as a programmer, systems network analyst and a webmaster.
Don't always use the same search engine, change up, use Bing or Dogpile or many others to find what you need.
I can spend hours researching for what I need, there is so much out there now you just need to learn "Where To Look", per say.
Good luck and remember, if you don't find what you are looking for, look somewhere else!!
G.
Hi G,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I almost always do a pretty extensive google search before coming hear to post. I rarely use bing or anyother search engine before coming here to ask... will certainly give it a go.
Thanks again.
I don't think there's another forum as great as XDA
but if you could be more specific or if you like MIUI rom, you can find everything about it here miuiandroid[dot]com
retslagoon said:
I don't think there's another forum as great as XDA
but if you could be more specific or if you like MIUI rom, you can find everything about it here miuiandroid[dot]com
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hi retslagoon,
I do not have any particular question at this time. But thanks for your reply.
One issue I have with 'being specific' (and I think I might find this hard to explain) is that I can spend quite a bit of time typing out a questing/post (and trying to be clear and specific), while wording correctly; only to have it be ignored - for whatever reason. So the entire exercise ends up being a waste of time.
I do not know why so many simple questions get ignored on these forums, there could be a range of reasons (either because people don't know the answers to them, or because people don't bother to read them; I also wonder if it is due to the fact that some of these unanswered questions are not at all development related and therefor are intentionally ignored to teach the poster a lesson about posting on a development forum).
Eitherway, XDA is not satisfying my search for help/advice and information.
Thanks again.
[email protected] said:
hi retslagoon,
I do not have any particular question at this time. But thanks for your reply.
One issue I have with 'being specific' (and I think I might find this hard to explain) is that I can spend quite a bit of time typing out a questing/post (and trying to be clear and specific), while wording correctly; only to have it be ignored - for whatever reason. So the entire exercise ends up being a waste of time.
I do not know why so many simple questions get ignored on these forums, there could be a range of reasons (either because people don't know the answers to them, or because people don't bother to read them; I also wonder if it is due to the fact that some of these unanswered questions are not at all development related and therefor are intentionally ignored to teach the poster a lesson about posting on a development forum).
Eitherway, XDA is not satisfying my search for help/advice and information.
Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
My experience is that often threads are unnecessarily started: A quick Google-search before in most cases would have given the answer(s) requested. At least if the issue(s) is/are device independent. So you must not wonder a post istn't replied.
I didn't get a response in general section of xda.
Since this is home I thought I would give it a go.
I need a new laptop, I will be using for general use but also for theming and a little tinkering. My current is holding me back on the android front.
So... What's best, around £1000?
I like macs, mostly build quality wise, but I hear they aren't that compatible with android?
again, sorry, I know this is in the wrong place,. But I couldn't get a response elsewhere and it can't hurt can it?
Thread Closed, and yes you are wrong....this is not the place...