What is Firefox OS? Web page is platform

Article Introduction: What I'm going to say here is that the devices we use can be the same technology as web development. What would the world be like if a large number of devices used such techniques to get the same APIs and communicate? I can't wait to see it happen.

Listen to the developer said Firefox OS truth: The Web is platform-oriented low-end

Mozilla developer Rob Hawkes last week wrote about the details of the Firefox OS operating system and why Mozilla was developing Firefox OS on his personal website, Rawkes.

The following are the main contents of the article:

Over the past 1.5 years, I've spent more and more time on Mozilla's newest project: the Firefox OS os. During this time, I fell in love with this project in an unprecedented way.

Specifically, Firefox OS is a great project to start with, an upcoming revolution, a fresh air, the pinnacle of an advanced technology. It's full of magic that can change everything.

What is Firefox OS?

Firefox OS is a new mobile operating system from Mozilla's boot to Gecko (B2G) project. It uses the Linux kernel to boot to the gecko-based runtime engine. This will allow users to run applications that are fully developed using HTML, JavaScript, and open APIs. -Quote from the Mozilla Developer Network

In short, Firefox OS uses the technology behind the Web page, such as JavaScript, and uses these technologies to build the entire mobile operating system. You can understand this: this is a JavaScript based mobile operating system.

To do this, a custom version of the Gecko engine (the one used by Firefox) was created and a new JavaScript API was introduced. This is necessary for developing a phone-like experience. This includes webtelephony for phone calls, websms for texting, and vibration APIs for vibrations.

However, Firefox OS is not just a crazy way to make use of the latest network technology, but also the Mozilla's many other projects integrated into the unified goal, this is the "Web platform." These projects include the Open Web Apps, as well as the network identity and login solution persona. It's nice to see so many projects being unified to the same goal.

This article is not meant to describe how good Firefox OS is, MDN's Firefox OS page has provided more detailed information.

Why do you need Firefox OS?

So you might ask, "That sounds good, but why do we use JavaScript to develop a cell phone?" This is indeed an important issue. In fact, many reasons determine the benefits of doing so. One of the two reasons is that Firefox OS can fill the gap in the mobile market; Firefox OS replaces the current private, more restrictive mobile operating system.

- Fill Vacancies

According to common sense, smart-phone prices are often expensive even for consumers in economically developed areas. And in some economically underdeveloped countries, smartphones are even more expensive. In Brazil, for example, the IPhone 4S was priced at 615 pounds, 100 pounds higher than the UK price.

This higher price is mainly due to import duties. By building factories in the area, Apple is expected to lower the price. But it still represents an important issue: expensive high-end products are not the choice of consumers in all regions of the world. In some countries, high-end smartphone prices are even comparable to mini cars.

So how do you get a smartphone experience with less money? You can choose a cheap Android phone, but some Android phones are not performing well. As a result, Firefox OS is coming. "The goal of Firefox OS is not to compete with high-end devices, but to offer entry-level to midrange smartphones at the price of a functional phone," said things D, a journalist at Bonnie. ”

Firefox OS perfectly fills this market gap, offering a smartphone experience on cheap, low-end hardware comparable to Android handsets with midrange hardware. This is by no means a joke.

For example, I'm testing a JavaScript game on a 50-pound Firefox OS device. You might think that these games are running badly. But in fact, it runs faster in the Firefox OS than in browsers with the same hardware Android devices, including Firefox and Chrome. Firefox OS also comparable more than Android devices with hardware costs of up to 4 to 5 times times.

So why does Firefox OS improve performance? This is because the connection between the Gecko engine and the hardware is simplified, so JavaScript can run at full speed.

I believe that Firefox OS is the beginning of an important change, and that providing powerful javascript on cheap hardware is one of the reasons. It should be noted that Mozilla does not necessarily introduce a cost of 50 pounds of equipment, which is only used in development and testing equipment.

-New options

The second reason for the need for Firefox OS is that Firefox OS not only offers open mobile platform choices, but it also tries to influence larger private mobile platform providers to make changes.

As Steve Lohr of the New York Times said: "Since its inception in 1998, as a software project, and subsequently as a foundation and company, Mozilla has provided open technology challenging the dominant enterprise product." ”

Mozilla is trying to replicate the success of the Firefox browser. Firefox has swept the market, showing users that they have other browsers to choose from. Firefox allows users to master the way they use the web.

"The threat is the mobile Internet, not from Microsoft, but from the leading smartphone platform providers: Apple and Google," said Thomas Claburn, a infomationweek journalist. Through native apps, closed platforms, proprietary software stores, and erratic developer rules, Apple and Google are marginalizing network technology. ”

One important area that needs to be changed in the mobile marketplace is the portability of applications. "There seems to be a setback around mobile apps that lock users into specific operating systems and devices that support the system," said Don Clark, a Wall Street Journal journalist. On the contrary, the content on the Web page is almost identical on any hardware. As a Firefox browser developer, Mozilla will also make the same difference for smartphones. ”

What Firefox OS wants to do is to use the ubiquitous features of the web to provide a platform to help users use apps via mobile devices, desktops, tablets, or any other browser-like location. When you play "Angry Birds", if you play on the phone to a certain level, then in the absence of a mobile phone, you will also want to continue on the computer? Many people have this expectation.

-Developer's hacker Dream

Another reason for the need for Firefox OS is that there is currently a lack of real freedom to modify the mobile platform. Of course, you can customize Android, but it's not easy.

Because Firefox OS is developed with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS technology, it means that you only need basic web development skills to radically change the device experience. You can modify a line of CSS code to completely adjust the icons on the home screen. You can also rewrite some of the core JavaScript files and process the calls.

This is a real platform for developers to consider. This development is likely to go beyond Mozilla's expectations.

Break the idea

Mozilla has shown some of its activities as a prototype for Firefox OS, and some developers ' feedback is interesting:

1. Confusion will arise at the outset. For example, someone would ask, "Why did you give me an Android phone?"

2. After the confusion, they suddenly realized that this was not Android, but a new system developed using JavaScript.

3. Soon, they were pleasantly surprised by the system.

4. In a few more, they began to focus on a number of deep-seated issues, studying all aspects of the phone and asking questions.

5. When I asked them to return their phones, they seemed reluctant. When they return my phone, they compliment Firefox OS.

You might think it's too good to say, but frankly, I've seen this kind of feedback from a lot of people. This is interesting. The more people have seen the Firefox OS, the more I believe it will be a market change. The Firefox OS has broken the current mindset, and it doesn't require any explanation for me.

Great challenge

Despite the great Firefox OS, we have met some challenges. On the one hand are some common problems, such as how to manage open, unrestricted application ecosystems, and how to deal with the version fragmentation that Android currently faces. But although these issues are important, I am not very interested.

What I really care about is the challenges we face in developing HTML5 games on mobile devices, including some intuitive issues to feel, and performance issues that developers often complain about. These are not the Firefox OS proprietary, but at the moment I focus on Firefox OS and how we can improve on it.

Most HTML5 games today are either poorly performing (fps only 0 to 20) or barely pass (FPS reaches 20 to 30). In addition, in most cases, these games can not run at a stable frame rate, resulting in a very unpleasant gaming experience. Interestingly, many problems are actually unrelated to device and JavaScript. Some large games, such as "Biolab disaster", can run well on low-end devices costing 50 of pounds, with FPS reaching 40 to 60.

The obvious point is that, while devices and platforms pose problems in some cases, we should still learn about the games that are running better, see what technologies they use, and popularize them among developers using HTML5. I believe that even large HTML5 games can work well on mobile devices and even low-end mobile devices. Where does my faith come from? Because people have developed such a game, I believe in my eyes.

Beyond the phone

The most exciting thing about Firefox OS is not the mobile phone we're going to launch next year, but the future of the system. As has already been said, Firefox OS can satisfy developers of hacker dreams, and future development is likely to exceed Mozilla's expectations.

In fact, such a situation has occurred. We have ported Firefox OS to devices such as Raspberry Pi and PandaBoard. It's not perfect, but it's interesting enough. It should be noted that such a transplant was implemented prior to the release of the first official version of the Firefox OS.

In addition, you can run the Firefox OS via Mac, Windows, and Linux desktop clients. Although hardware functionality is not available, desktop clients mean that you can take advantage of other features of the operating system, such as running applications with different processes. It is also easy to build such an environment.

I can imagine that in the near future, the Gecko engine will provide the GamePad API and can be accessed via Firefox OS desktop clients. This means that a desktop client can run on a device connected to the TV and support game handles instead of keyboard mouse input. Keep in mind that this is entirely based on JavaScript. So you will see the game host developed using HTML5. I am exploring this in my spare time.

Anyway, what I'm going to say here is that the devices we use can be the same technology as web development. What would the world be like if a large number of devices used such techniques to get the same APIs and communicate? I can't wait to see it happen.