CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available [LWN.net]

A set of release candidates for CyanogenMod 7 - a rebuilt and enhanced version of the Android "Gingerbread" release - has been announced. "These are builds that are feature-complete and fairly well tested, but still have some minor tweaking that needs done. You should find them stable for everyday use though!" This terse changelog gives some sense of what's included in this release.

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CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 17:58 UTC (Wed) by daglwn (guest, #65432) [Link] (20 responses)

I've got a Samsung Captivate and I truly regret purchasing it. No software updates for a year now, though Froyo had been promised last fall.

Android is going to fail as a platform if this continues. There needs to be some standard of support. The OS is fragmenting terribly due to carrier modifications and its Open Source nature seems to be of not much benefit, as there is no support Cyanogen Mod for Galaxy S phones.

The whole experience has really soured me on Android.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 18:21 UTC (Wed) by foom (subscriber, #14868) [Link]

It gets even worse: think of how many known remotely exploitable security holes there are in your outdated OS. Hope nobody tries to exploit any of them...

At least you don't have a Cliq XT: that comes with Android 1.5. The phone was first introduced in Mar 2010 (when 2.1 was current), with a promised upgrade to 2.1 in "2Q 2010". Fast forward to Feb 2011: Motorola says "Just kidding haha we couldn't make 2.1 work, it's stuck on 1.5 forever". And BTW, this phone is *still being sold today* (still with android 1.5)! It's utterly insane.

But, BTW, there is a ROM available for your phone: http://cognition.theidiotshideout.net/mw/

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 19:16 UTC (Wed) by nhasan (guest, #1699) [Link] (6 responses)

The Open Source nature of Android is of no benefit you say. Have you heard of all those custom ROMs? I own a Galaxy S and been running Cognition ROM for a while. Try that with an iOS or WP7 device.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 19:28 UTC (Wed) by daglwn (guest, #65432) [Link] (1 responses)

Cognition? That's the sorriest-looking website for an "Open Source" project I've seen in a while. Where, for example, is the source?

No, I don't trust it. Cyanogen has a large, active community around it. I don't see that with Cognition. The ROM may work, but I have no confidence it will work tomorrow.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 17:06 UTC (Thu) by hummassa (guest, #307) [Link]

I am using Darky's rom on my Galaxy S and I am very pleased with the result.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 22:02 UTC (Wed) by job (guest, #670) [Link] (3 responses)

Why are these software distributions called ROMs? As far as I can understand, there is no ROM involved at all. To reflash a ROM is a contradiction in terms.

Why not call it "distribution" like with regular computers? Even "operating system" or just "software" would be fine.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 22:19 UTC (Wed) by foom (subscriber, #14868) [Link] (2 responses)

Because the terminology hasn't changed even though the technology has.

Originally you'd put software onto an ROM. Then people invented PROM and EPROM (erasable programmable read-only-memory...already we've gotten confused terminology here, although it makes some sense, because you need a UV light to erase the thing, and generally you need a high voltage to program it), then an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only-memory...). And often the EEPROM wasn't rewritable without a special programming device being attached. Flash is a form of EEPROM, and now the programming circuitry is always part of the device.

So...yes, there's a contradiction in terms, but it's long-standing, and came about over time. And so, the image you flash to an embedded device is called a ROM, because a long time ago, you would have stored it in ROM. Language is like that. :)

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 16, 2011 22:56 UTC (Wed) by job (guest, #670) [Link] (1 responses)

I disagree. "Firmware" is the accepted term for most embedded software. "Have you upgraded the ROM in those disks / that router / your phone yet?" sounds strange.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 1:48 UTC (Thu) by pabs (subscriber, #43278) [Link]

"Firmware" is such a bullshit term for mobile operating systems. They have much more in common with "distributions" or "software" than the traditional definition of "firmware". I guess my objection to this is kinda like the change in the term "hacker", idiotic to resist since it is too late, the word has changed meaning.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 0:26 UTC (Thu) by drag (guest, #31333) [Link] (9 responses)

> Android is going to fail as a platform if this continues. There needs to be some standard of support. The OS is fragmenting terribly due to carrier modifications and its Open Source nature seems to be of not much benefit, as there is no support Cyanogen Mod for Galaxy S phones.

It's in beta/development.

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Samsung_Capti...
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/forum/83-samsung-galaxy-s/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EuM7-h92DY

heh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFR2VeeVxpU

I'm surprised it's taken this long, but that's how things go sometimes.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 1:33 UTC (Thu) by daglwn (guest, #65432) [Link] (6 responses)

Yes, I know it's in development. Has been for months. The problem is the platform is closed and Samsung doesn't care about customers. Open Source is supposed to help but what we really need is Free Software.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 1:34 UTC (Thu) by daglwn (guest, #65432) [Link] (3 responses)

In other words, Linus is wrong. License matters a whole lot.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 2:46 UTC (Thu) by pabs (subscriber, #43278) [Link] (2 responses)

In other words, Stallman was right. Carrot and stick are needed.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 10:58 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265) [Link] (1 responses)

If Stallman was right, why isn't Android built on top of the Hurd?

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 13:26 UTC (Thu) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link]

Stallman was right about licensing. Hurd development isn't led by him.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 2:04 UTC (Thu) by Kit (guest, #55925) [Link] (1 responses)

One of the prominent independent devs working on some of the Samsung Galaxy S phones recently gave a presentation to the higher ups at Samsung, trying to sell them on the idea of forming a real, unified open source community around the Galaxy S Android phones, with things such as formally releasing development ROMs (that, currently, people just leak instead), along with the source, as well as doing their development in a public Git repositories.

It seems that the presentation had at least SOME impact on Samsung, because since then they sent a rep to try to work with the communities on the XDA developer forums (it's where the majority of the Samsung ROM community exists), by answering various technical questions. Admittedly, so far, the guy has pretty much just been flamed non-stop, with more than a few developers suspicious his real reason for being there is just to track down the people leaking the development roms.... but it's _possibly_ progress.

As you can imagine, such a shift by Samsung would be a major win for the open source community, Android, and even Samsung.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 11:05 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265) [Link]

> It seems that the presentation had at least SOME impact on Samsung, because since then they sent a rep to try to work with the communities on the XDA developer forums (it's where the majority of the Samsung ROM community exists), by answering various technical questions.

Seems like a golden chance to engage Samsung.

> Admittedly, so far, the guy has pretty much just been flamed non-stop, with more than a few developers suspicious his real reason for being there is just to track down the people leaking the development roms.... but it's _possibly_ progress.

Seems like the golden chance to engage Samsung is going to be wasted by the lack of a more professional attitude :-\

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 19, 2011 12:47 UTC (Sat) by lab (guest, #51153) [Link] (1 responses)

> heh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFR2VeeVxpU

Damn, I feel old...

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 26, 2011 8:47 UTC (Sat) by Zenith (guest, #24899) [Link]

LOL! I so concur!

Watch the first 15 seconds and understand :P

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 7:17 UTC (Thu) by ringerc (subscriber, #3071) [Link] (1 responses)

Yeah ... I have an HTC Desire HD, and I'm becoming concerned that it's likely to go down the same path. HTC has issued updates in the past, and may well update to 2.3, but almost certainly no further.

The trouble is that the phone platforms require a lot of porting work, and the phone vendors aren't required to release any of the info required for making Android work on their phones. A giant kernel code drop isn't really all that helpful, especially when it comes without any documentation on the hardware, bootloader, etc.

As a result, Android users are locked in to using the software the phone vendor decides to release. There's no life for the phone beyond what the phone vendor decides to give it - and they're not exactly highly motivated to extend the life of old products.

For me, the other half of the problem is the butchery the vendors perpetrate on Android. It's like buying a Windows laptop from a big OEM, where it's full to the gills with crapware - then being told you can't uninstall the crapware apps, let alone clean-install the system with a stock Windows CD so it actually works.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 23:06 UTC (Thu) by leoc (guest, #39773) [Link]

I bought a nexus one specifically because I thought it would not have this problem and yet here we are 2 months after the release of gingerbread and the nexus s and still no update from Google.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 9:06 UTC (Thu) by JoeF (guest, #4486) [Link]

I've been using the CM7 nightlies on my Nexus One for a while now. Works great. Had only minor issues so far.

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 11:59 UTC (Thu) by pierre (guest, #663) [Link] (2 responses)

As an HTC Hero user, it's nice having many alternative ROMs to choose from instead of still running 1.5.
But what about trustworthiness of these, would you trust and run an unknown Linux distribution downloaded from some guy in forum posts ?

CyanogenMod 7 release candidates available

Posted Feb 17, 2011 14:52 UTC (Thu) by foom (subscriber, #14868) [Link] (1 responses)

Often a *binary* distribution, with no source available, at that!

Availability of source for custom ROMS/Firmwares

Posted Feb 22, 2011 16:22 UTC (Tue) by alex (subscriber, #1355) [Link]

The problem with most of these custom firmwares are they aren't built from source. They usually take an existing binary distro and then tweak it by moving stuff around, adding packages and tweaking config files. Most phone mod people don't seem to have roots in the FLOSS community either so have less appreciation for the benefits of build from source.

Although I was running FroydVillain on my Hero I ended up switching to CyanongenMod because building from a known source tree (modulo propriety bits) is important to me.