Meltemi being shelved ?
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[quote author="utcenter" date="1338627942"]So where does this leave Qt in the mobile world?[/quote]
wherever we take it :)
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[quote author="sierdzio" date="1338630097"][quote author="utcenter" date="1338627942"]So where does this leave Qt in the mobile world?[/quote]
wherever we take it :)[/quote]
Somedays ago I was reading about the problems the Necessitas projects was facing. Too few people working on the port, Differences between Bogdan and another contributor, Difficulty in implementing some modules etc. For mobile platforms, I think we need official support like that provided by RIM on every platform. A port to BB10 independant of RIM would have faced similar issues as the Android one. Though we can argue that we can take Qt anywhere we like, practically that is difficult to happen. For example, can we hope for Qt on WP unless MS or Nokia support it ? Right now the mobile world, with no supported platforms, have lost interest in Qt. To re-create that interest, we need a new Qt supported platform from Nokia and it should become a big hit. If BB10 succeeds, that also will do good for Qt in Mobile world.
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Yes, you are very right here, I totally agree. Sadly, there is not much we can do about it.
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[quote author="Jayakrishnan.M" date="1338788659"]
Somedays ago I was reading about the problems the Necessitas projects was facing. Too few people working on the port, Differences between Bogdan and another contributor...
[/quote]More contributors would likely result in even more differences. Platform ports should not be the responsibility of volunteers, especially on such big projects. Volunteers IMO are expected to fix bugs, improve functionality, add features, more of cosmetic type of contributions rather than working on the backbone of a project.
Big projects require management, and individual contributors are not bound to any. Necessitas hasn't move an inch the last 4 months, and very little the last 6 months, and even thou basic features work it is very rough around the edges, there are many bugs, there are many features missing, some of which crucial to modern application development.
The lack of commitment to booming platforms such as Android and iOS is surprising, but not all that much, considering the ownership of Qt. Even Digia, which commercially exploits Qt dedicates no efforts to bringing Qt to those platforms, even at a price. What I imply is there is some high corporate level commitment for Qt to NOT be supported on major mobile platforms, and as many as the volunteer contributors to Qt are, they are a minor fraction of the development force that moves Qt, far too powerless to push for mobile platform support when Nokia pushes against it.
Seriously, what could be better for Qt and its developer base than support for the most revenue generating platforms out there?
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[quote author="Jayakrishnan.M" date="1338788659"]Right now the mobile world, with no supported platforms, have lost interest in Qt. To re-create that interest, we need a new Qt supported platform from Nokia and it should become a big hit. If BB10 succeeds, that also will do good for Qt in Mobile world.
[/quote]Absolutely! Unfortunately these decisions depend on corporation managers and not on developers.
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On a side note, even if Meltemi is not getting canned, a mobile platform with no user base is about as useful as a canned one. I mean apart from you specifically getting such a phone to develop for it is not like people will go for an unproven product just like that.
As hard as it may be to develop a mobile platform OS, it is much harder to gain a concernable amount of users. I imply Meltemi would not have made Qt that much more attractive prospect as porting it to mobile OSs that are already established with a wide user base. Not to mention how much easier it would be to officially support an existing OS than making and establishing a new one.
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Yes, an official port for iOS and Android would have been the best thing. But that is not going to happen. The only thing we can hope for is Qt on Meltemi, whatever Meltemi is. A meltemi based phone can gain market share easily in countries like India if it is released now. Late again, there will be less chance.
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Following "the latest hot news about cuts in Nokia":http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/nokia-to-cut-10-000-jobs-as-elop-tries-to-stanch-losses.html I am very pessimistic about Meltemi. Most probably it will never be released and Nokia will focus on Windows Phone.
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http://allthingsd.com/20120614/nokia-to-end-meltemi-effort-for-low-end-smartphones/
Game over for Meltemi.
Game over for a Nokia funded Qt very soon.
Long live Qt!
