View source for Community Updates/2009-06-25

====='''Period May 22nd to June 25th, 2009'''=====
==Important==

On June 2nd, Sean Moss-Pultz (CEO of Openmoko Inc.) announced a major change in the Openmoko world: the development of open phones was discontinued by Openmoko Inc. It will be assigned to the Community, so '''everybody''' (including You, dear reader) is called to participate in this big challenge: make the project survive and grow!

The complete transition will happen in the coming months.

In the meantime Openmoko is beginning to move on the new course, the [[FSO]] team is looking for funding and continues development, we should expect the 5.5 release in a few days, the same for [[Paroli]], 4 new developers are able to improve and maintain the kernel, but a lot of help is needed. Every contribution is important in order to realize the transition, so organization experts, developers, system administrators, testers, translators, wiki editors, all are welcome to get involved!

See http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/048903.html and http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Community_transition

==Distributions==

* '''[[Om 2009]]''' - There have been new additions to features and bug fixes to the last image. The latest testing release-5 for June 16th is available [http://downloads.openmoko.org/distro/testing/NeoFreerunner/ here]

* '''[http://panicking.kicks-ass.org/download/ Android]''' - Michael Trimarchi, aka Panicking, released a new image of the ''Cupcake'' version of Android (1.5). He is now concentrating on integrating Glamo chip so we can expect smoother video response soon. 

*[http://freerunner.android.koolu.com/Home '''Koolu'''] has released a very workable Beta 7 of '''Android'''.  They have simplified the installation procedure, and use [[Qi]] as the bootloader. Michael's ([http://freerunner.android.koolu.com/acknowledgments and others]) work is integrated in their release and now Neo Freerunner is a '''Mobile Phone'''. Results of ongoing tests can be found at [[Android usage]]

* '''[[Mer]]''' is a new distribution based on  [http://wiki.maemo.org Maemo]. Mer is being ported to Freerunner, thanks to the support of [http://www.eshopen.com Eshopen] distributor of OpenMoko in Italy, by Vincenzo Ampolo (goshawk) and Carsten M. Munk (Stskeep). They are now concentrating on a finger friendly keyboard fit for the different screensize, and the integration of FSO.

==Applications== 
===New Applications===

* '''[http://openbossa.indt.org/canola/ Canola]'''  is a media center like application for Nokia Tablets. It's intended to be a very simple and fast way of consuming media from the device or the Internet. Canola was originally developed for the  [http://maemo.org/intro/ Maemo] platform and was open sourced recently. For additional information on feeds, install, etc. look at this [http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/049530.html thread]

* '''[http://www.opkg.org/package_232.html Literki 0.0.1]''' - "Literki is a full qwerty keyboard with configurable layout, optimized for use with a terminal application. The keys are big enough for everyday use with your fat fingers."

* '''[http://mokomaze.projects.openmoko.org/qt/ QtMaze]''' - is a port of Mokomaze to QtExtended by ANT. The demo video is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaRtQOPMBO4 here] and the release announcement [http://n2.nabble.com/QtMaze---Mokomaze-0.2-for-Qt-Extended-tp3129539p3129539.html here].

* '''[http://code.google.com/p/elmdentica ElmDentica]''' - is an [http://identi.ca/ Identi.ca] client. This is an early alpha release, barely usable (well, not yet for end-users...).

===Application Updates===

* '''[http://shr-project.org/trac Czech translation of SHR]''' - A Czech translation of the libframeworkd-phonegui-efl - the core of SHR Dialer, Messages and Contacts - has been created. '''SHR Settings''' is now translated as well. All this is available in the ''SHR-Unstable'' build.

* '''[http://www.nongnu.org/qwo Qwo 0.5]''' - A new release, support for color customization has been added, and bugs are fixed. This project is an implementation of Quikwriting, an efficient way to input text for handheld devices almost without taking your finger off the screen. 

* '''[http://code.google.com/p/omgps/ Omgps 0.1]''' - A new release, bugs are fixed, some minor User Interface changes. The goal of this project is to provide a new GPS GUI application for OpenMoko mobile phone. Good performance is one of the initial aims. 

* '''[http://www.opkg.org/package_191.html PISI]''' - Pisi is an application (written in Python) for synchronizing all sorts of PIM data. In PISI 0.3 version contacts synchronization was extended by SIM (via DBUS) support - making it available to SHR users. Python 2.6 is supported as well (including all dependency packages).

==Community==

Remember - you only have until July 15, 2009 to take advantage of the SDG Systems & Koolu buzz-fix program.   This may be the only formal buzz-fix program for owners in the US. See http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/049041.html for details.

[http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=Buzz-Rework Buzz-Rework] - Last call for FreeRunner owners in European Union to fix their BUZZ ! You have only few days left to plan for the last scheduled rework swap, which is 2009-06-29. With the help of Openmoko and a local SMD specialist company in Munich, they offer a rework service to those who really have a problem with the buzz. The 2 way shipping cost is covered by the customer. The customer will receive their working device with one free battery as a gift. Remember to get familiar with [http://www.handheld-linux.com/images/Instructions.pdf Rework Instructions] before sending the FreeRunner to Munich. 

* [http://blog.shr-project.org/2009/06/fsoshrudcon09-a-bit-late-but-still.html FSOSHRUDCON feedback]
* [http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/049693.html FreeRunner A6 Sale]
* [http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Om_2009#Using_OM2009 Tips for Om 2009] (set a wallpaper, import contacts, log directory, ...)
* [http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/049296.html Talks about an umbrella foundation] to drive the community (see [http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2009-June/049177.html maddog's proposition])

==Wiki==


===Community Transition===
A [[Community transition]] wiki page has been created to organize and coordinate the efforts of the planned transition mentioned above. Not much has been shaped yet and alot of work needs to be done. Feel invited to jump in and help establishing a robust and solid base for a great community. We need a community which is able to maintain itself and take over areas of responsibility from Openmoko Inc.

===Discussion Boards===
A new wiki section was started to organize ideas and discuss technical aspects to help developers and maintainers to create software and distributions giving to users a better experience with the freerunner. It's not a "single shot" wish list, but a place to signal conceptual issues, propose ideas, discuss about pro/cons and give hints on how to implement/fix them, the final target is to minimize the project phase for developers and distro maintainers. Please partecipate to [[Discussion Boards]].

==Event News==

* '''2009-07-04''' : birthday of the Freerunner. Some community events are planned in [http://openmoko-fr.org/blog/index.php?post/2009/06/20/4-juillet-2009-%3A-anniversaires-et-rencontres France]
* '''2009-07-03 & 04''': Openmoko User Workshop in Munich. [[http://freeyourphone.de/portal_v1/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1326]]

[[Category:Community Update]]