Talk:B2G

Embedded web server

There should be also an embedded (apache)-websever for embedded applications in PHP/Java/etc. MovGP0 06:43, 26 July 2011 (PDT)

Doing It Wrong: You are taking the wrong approach.

The idea is to create an operating system that boots to the web, but you're building it on top of an operating system.

This means you're not eliminating cruft.

You still have to load microcode so you can load an OS so you can load a GUI so you can load a browser so you can load an interperator so you can display content.

If you really want to "boot to the web" you should go straight from microcode to interpreter and skip the OS layer. Make the interpreter the OS and forget about an underlying GUI, application runtimes and backward compatibility.

Get rid of the idea of having an operating system built around a kernel.

In other words, we need something entirely new. If this project is going to be done right we have to throw away the operating system paradigm and create a new foundation that others will rely on for the future.

If you're going to boot to the web, boot the web.

Foxmajik 10:41, 26 July 2011 (PDT)

Telephony apps

In regard to "Booting the Web" project, I like the idea of proving support for telephony apps that can leverage HTML5 Api's to make call/send sms and chat over the web. Without the need of using 3rd party services such as Twillio or Tropo..etc.

-sjoshi

also Media player app, and a lot of File management infrastructure

Exciting project!

You left media player off the "short list of apps we know we'll want"

For this media player app and your "Camera/photo manager/gallery" app, and for general management of "stuff I downloaded", "web pages I saved", "things I saved as PDF to view/print", and "what is on this SD card I plugged in?", B2G needs file management. Mozilla/Firefox has strong building blocks for this:

1. file: URLs that unify local resources with web URLs
2. the excellent UI/UX metaphors in Places, with starring, tagging, searching, metadata, frecency, and folders.
3. the tree-structured Sidebar > Bookmarks view that if you squint looks exactly like a directory navigator.

The Places team have skirted with managing downloaded files (bug 402231 - places organizer should allow browsing and searching of downloads) and locally-saved files (Firefox/Feature Brainstorming:Archiving and Offline browsing); I don't know if anyone but me has ever requested Places as a next-gen file manager. And no doubt there are enhancement requests for the toolkit's file:/// directory view going back years.

People have learned to locate and browse resources in hierarchical web sites using browser features; you have an opportunity to do great work bringing innovation to file:///My local storage

Good luck! -- Skierpage 16:55, 26 July 2011 (PDT)

Mobile Web OS pros are not clear

Hi, I am interested in the idea of mobile web OS, but after contemplating it a bit I have reached a dead end.

First of all, it is not something completely new. A lot of apps on Android platform are just web page wrappers and with mobile frameworks they are getting just better, because it enables communication between hardware and html/js. Phonegap does basically all you want to achieve. Most native apps are also just web service consumers and could have been implemented as web apps if developers would be aware of new technologies. Barely any data is stored only on the phone, so Android could be called cloud OS.

Secondly, have you noticed how terribly slow web apps are on mobile devices. Those developed with frameworks and stored internally are okay, but for example dynamically loaded (even with home Wi-Fi) Gmail is a nightmare. The only solution I see is to cache/save all web apps to phone’s storage, but then how that’s different from current situation on Android.

Chrome OS for laptops are good idea, because it takes a while to set up a desktop environment. With mobile phones it is a different story. You can easily log on to a new Android phone and all programs will be downloaded and installed for you in few minutes. After that you are ready to browse your old files on dropbox or create documents on GDocs.

-- Tomas Grubliauskas

B2G for desktops/laptops/netbooks

Mozilla should extend the scope of the Boot to Web project to include a version to compete with ChromeOS. Such a development would provide real social value.

Google's ChromeOS is an inspired development - I believe that it will gain immense traction over the next few years and become a major force in desktop computing, in both the enterprise and non enterprise spaces. However there is a significant issue with it: do we really want to rely on Google for all our computing needs? This will become increasingly problematic as Google's market dominance increases.

For Mozilla's Boot to Web to compete with Google's ChromeOS will require:
1. A Mozilla equivalent of ChromeOS (MozOS) – this shouldn't be two difficult to develop, much of the work for ChromeOS is open source and can be copied. A MozOS would provide some real choice. The MozOS could be given a number of USP's vis a vis ChromeOS:
a) It should be made available for a range of PC's – not just netbooks
b) PC manufacturers should be encouraged to include it as a quick-boot option to sit along side MS Windows. The PC would have a dual boot either Windows or MozOS (2 seconds to the web!).
c) It could support local printing
d) It is independent and it will be free of Google spyware and other encumbrances – which are bound to grow over time
2. A cloud based aspect – these include a cloud service for user registration and authentication and a framework for creating cloud based applications. These cloud based aspects should be available both as a hosted service and also as software that can be installed on private servers. This would allow enterprises to create their own private clouds for their MozOS devices.

It maybe the case that because the existing Boot 2 Web project is Android based and as such is targeted at mobile devices, the development of a MozOS to compete with ChromeOS may require a new project or projects rather then simply extending the scope of this current project.

I hope that this is thought provoking.

Charles Cunningham

Fill out communication section

I would be interested in talking with the main developers of this project. Besides the IRC mentioned what other forms of communication exist? --Drakar 16:00, 16 September 2011 (PDT)

UI Design changes

Looking at the UI sketches, I just want to point out some minor changes that will alleviate usability problems.

The vertical screen unlock will cause problems when the user have the phone in a pocket. Where the phone will unlock as the user takes the phone out of the pocket. A better alternative would be the horizontal lock, or a simple puzzle lock.

Gaia is a collection of web apps ?

If Gaia is a collection of web apps, will it work without WiFi/3G coverage ? Do you mean that the OS cannot work offline ? Bahjy 09:24, 27 January 2012 (PST)