Jolla News: Letter from Jolla, Open Source Sailfish browser

Sailfish OS is an Open Source project (sailfishos.org). On top of it, Jolla currently has a closed source user interface, but that's not the whole picture - according to Jolla, this situation is due to change in time.

With the latest update, Sailfish OS 1.0.3.8. Naamankajärvi, Jolla already introduced a new recovery menu which enables unlocking Jolla's bootloader. This was a step towards Open Source  - and today the story goes on. Letter from Vesa-Matti Hartikainen, Jolla Oy:

We finally got all the preparations done and today is the day. Sailfish Browser is Jolla's first fully open source application! The public repository is here: https://github.com/sailfishos/sailfish-browser We intend to work as open as possible and hope to gain contributors and a better chance of getting our embedding accepted to Mozilla upstream. Future contributions, both internal and external should go to the public repository. I hope that we will get a public bugzilla for this project at some point, but at the moment externally we will use Github's issue tracker. A more in depth description of the technology powering the browser can be found at http://blog.idempotent.info/posts/whats-behind-sailfish-browser.html. On behalf of Jolla's browser team I thank you all for being an awesome community and we are very much looking forward to building a great browser together! -- Vesa-Matti Hartikainen Jolla Oy

Open Source licence is added to the code already two weeks ago, but the letter above was published today. By this letter it's obvious that Jolla wishes to welcome more developers to contribute to the browser code, aiming to make it a full member of the Mozilla browsers main upstream. This would be a win win situation to both Jolla, their customers and mozilla.org.

Open Sourcing Sailfish browser was also expected because of the existing Gecko licence - Jolla's Sailfish browser uses Mozilla’s Gecko engine, and it's embedded with EmbedLite API.

News about Open Source Sailfish Browser has been welcome. Information was first published at Maemo developer forum, since then it's already reached at least:

• GIGAOM
• The Next Web
• CNN Money
• Several Jolla community sites, blogs and forums

Grants, by the licence of Sailfish Browser

Each Contributor hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license:

1. under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark) Licensable by such Contributor to use, reproduce, make available, modify, display, perform, distribute, and otherwise exploit its Contributions, either on an unmodified basis, with Modifications, or as part of a Larger Work; and
2. under Patent Claims of such Contributor to make, use, sell, offer for sale, have made, import, and otherwise transfer either its Contributions or its Contributor Version.

(note: for conditions, read the full licence http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/)

Security update: Online with Sailfish, Android browsers and apps

Just a few common Android Browsers. Famous Firefox missing

Google DNS usage located on Jolla

It's been found out that Myriad Alien Dalvik, service on which all Android applications run on Jolla, sets Jolla to use Google's DNS server 8.8.8.8 in Android environment. This DNS is in use for all Android applications connecting to the internet, including Browsers, SoMe Apps (fb, twitter, whatsapp etc...) and any other applications. This means that every URL you send via an Android app is first sent to Google. This doesn't happen only on Alien Dalvik - It's normal in all Android environments. Android is Google's property.

A lot of Jolla users have installed Android support (myself included) without knowing this - but here we have another great example of the OpenSource ideology: This was discovered, and now the info is spreading fast through the community.

Those who don't want to send their every "net step" via Google have exactly two options: Use Sailfish Browser (in a network not using Google's DNS) or hack the Alien Dalvik (to use a different DNS, in a network likewise). Personally I'm using a lot of Google's services, knowing that they are profiling me all the time to show me the most attractive commercials. The world is full of people like me - 81% of all the smartphones in the world are Androids. Among Jolla owners, however, the percentage might be a lot smaller. Some people care. Knowledge is Power, and we can only hope for Google to use their huge "property" wisely.

DNS - Short basics

DNS server is always the first place connected when enterin the net. It offers the directions to the required content. A simple example:

• You enter http://together.jolla.com into your browser
• that text is sent to the DNS server, normally one defined by your network provided
• DNS server returns a numeric address where the named site locates (54.194.54.215, Ireland)
• Your phone builds a connection to that server (via several servers on the way)
• Content is transferred to your phone

Sailfish Browser

The biggest reason for people using Android browsers on their Jolla is that Sailfish browser looks like an alpha version so far. It has 5 virtual buttons (back/forward/refresh/favourite/tabs) and 3 more pulley menu items behind tabs (new tab, close all tabs, share). Sharing opens a simple link share with adding your own writing - nothing more. The browser also include a few bugs, crashing sometimes with no explanations. However, there's someting good: Gecko based user agent is modern, and scores very well in for example html5 test (You can try by opening html5test.com with your Jolla browser)

Updates wanted and expected

Users have been patient while waiting for new features to be released, but this finding in Alien Dalvik could cause some wishes for faster browser app updates - remains to be seen. New features are promised during Q1/2014, but nobody knows what they are. Other important updates are 4G/LTE support, NFC bug fix (should be available in couple of weeks) and Store related bugs (downloading / connection problems), just to name a few. So far, Jolla has released two larger updates (1st for bug fixes, 2nd for some features and more bugfixes) with unexpected speed. Jolla has managed to keep their community quite happy, considering the amount of things needed to be done. Most whining has been seen in Jolla's policy in informing their customers and a slow care response in common.

Jolla - Developers Dream Phone

 

 

 

 

Jolla - Developers Dream Phone

After three days of the first Jolla Smart Phone sold in Finland, experienced and Linux oriented customers are already sailing in deep seas with their Jolla's. In the net we can already find instructions about how to install Google Play into this phone, and a video showing how nicely GTA3 is running on Jolla Sailfish OS.

So modifying the Jolla's OpenSource Sailfish OS is possible, and Jolla has made it easy too - In the phone settings you can change the phone to Developer Mode (caution on this, this is really ment for experienced users). No other mobile OS offer a developer mode, but in other systems like Android this can be done a bit trickier, via rooting the phone.

 

It's obvious that Jolla hasn't offered this option without purpose. As they aim to wide use of their gesture based operating system worldwide, there are few benefits for themselves offering this option.

Some possible benefits to Jolla for offering customers a Developer Mode:

• Jolla is looking for the best individual developers to hire them
• Jolla gives part of their own work to the community, and via that offering better updates faster to all their customers (this kind of community work is common in Linux based, OpenSource enviroments)
• Jolla is hoping for users to develope some of The Other Halfs
• Jolla needs native Sailfish Apps fast, and this is one way to offer complete test devices for all interested in developing
• Jolla's Sailfish starts to spread around the world directly via the community
• Jolla gains the votes from experienced mobile enthustiastics, and gains some marketing value via them

I see Jolla's phones as a huge marketing fleet for the Salefish Operating System, which seems to be the main product of the company. In future we might see Jolla running campaigns where they award their customers for their work to develope and spread Sailfish all around the world.

Jolla's strategy by Stefano Mosconi:
 "Our plan is a three-phase one: first, we’ll do phones that are Jolla-branded. Then we’ll do co-branded phones – “Sailfish by Jolla.” And then the third wave will be to license the OS to third parties so that they can build on top of the existing open-source project -which we plan to keep open-source- and then we’ll differentiate with the UI."

"Give a million ships to free, open minded sailors and follow them visiting all the harbours of the world, equipping their ships even better and showing their nice ships to their friends, inviting them to sailing with them"

to JollaTides by Simo Ruoho
soon to be Jolla sailor