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by heathkit 5132 days ago
Maybe I'm biased, but to me the story of RIM is another example of the triumph of open source over closed-source solutions. iOS is based on BSD, Android on linux (and heavily leverages the OpenBinder IPC mechanism. I've looked closely at the old blackberry OS and the new QNX based one, and it's amazing how far behind they are.

Seeing the new QNX OS and how they're using it was a real eye opener. They have nothing that even comes close to the features of ICS on their roadmap, and they just don't have the resources or expertise to ever catch up.

I agree, they do make good hardware. But the software side of their house is in the stone age, and the recent acquisitions haven't really helped at all.
1 comments
jan_g 5132 days ago
Very funny that your view is exactly the opposite of HorizonXP's view in his posts, where he asserts that QNX is much more advanced that either iOS or Android.
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HorizonXP 5132 days ago
Yeah, +1 on this. I wish I could provide better evidence to support my claims about QNX being better, but I really would butcher it. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm less sleep-deprived, I can take a stab at it. Right now, I'm responding with items that I know I can speak about, since they're off the top of my head.

I would actually argue that QNX and RIM's current efforts are more open than before. Prior to RIM's acquisition of QNX, it was open-source, called OpenQNX. They closed it shortly after acquiring it (which doesn't help support my claims :-P), but they've really been pushing open-source efforts.

Cascades is built on Qt, and they've been committing heavily to the gitorious repo. Moreover, they've contracted KDAB to continue those efforts.

If you look at this page https://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/oss.ht..., you'll see a list of all the open-source components that they've ported to the platform. Everything is hosted on github at http://blackberry.github.com/.

Look, I know I'm sounding like a BlackBerry fanboy, and it's because I am. I drank the Kool-Aid, and I like it. I want them to succeed. They may not be the company we deserve, but the company we need. We need a 3rd player to usurp Apple's draconian App Store policies, and provide some semblance of quality over Google Play Store.

Again, I think RIM is making the right moves. If you're a developer, you owe it to yourself to check out the resources that they're offering. Follow them on twitter, @BlackBerryDev. Heck, check out one of the BlackBerry Jam World Tours that might be in a town near you (http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com/).

Research them yourself and draw your own conclusions. You may still disagree with me. That's ok. At least, you'll be well-informed and STILL disagreeeing with me. :-)

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