Any ideas when/whether 16.07 will come out? There’s been lot of security fixes, as I heard…
And then, going on, the next releases also?
I think when 1.5.1 was released, it was said that shortly (2 weeks or so) a new release would follow. Maybe the FPOOS will skip this in-between release and only be released after the next FPOS version?
I’m afraid this might happen, even though it seems this release is pretty important, security wise. But then, when is the holiday season in the Netherlands? there’s still not that many staff, I guess
On my FP2 I have the 16.06.0-Version. And now I am getting a little bit impatient. The new Googled version is out since about two weeks!
I am sorry to say the release of 16.07 is delayed a little.
We’re working on it and as soon as I have more information I’ll post it here.
That means 16.07 comes in August if it is not skipped completely.
That means 16.07 would be 16.08,
I honestly cannot understand these delays. The build tools are pretty much the same and I would actually expect both versions to be released simultaneously.
I’m sure they don’t delay things just for annoying their customers
In the end it’s all coming down to resources and manpower available I guess…
I completely agree with you. But it’s actually exactly resources and manpower that let me question the current resource intensive two-track approach of the FP-OS development. Both builds are based on the same AOSP code and the differences are actually (at least from my perspective) minor: Open Version uses TWRP, is rootable and has no GAPPS while the stock ROM has GAPPS but no TWRP and no root. Both GAPPS and TWRP are installable components so they do not directly affect the main image, root is one single patch.
Looking at these facts I really do not understand why one version gets an update and the other side has to wait and live with some really annoying bugs.
So why not use the same AOSP codebase + TWRP as the base for both ? I think even “normal users” would benefit from TWRP and adding the root patch to one build and GAPPS to the other should not be the biggest problem. And last but not least both builds deserve up to date security and bug fixes.
Git version control system (the one they use at code.fairphone.com, and probably elsewhere) allows you to transfer differential changes (called commits
) from repository A to B effortlessly.
I think they do development on FPOS-GMS repos and later move those commits to the mayority of FPOS-Open repos without hassle. But sensitive parts like kernel, blobs and Open OS userspace additions have to be thoroughly checked and tested. Plus they have to research and fix specific Open OS bugs. Plus its summertime. Plus they are also working on FP1’s KitKat. Plus […]
I used to think just like you, but after having tinkered with CodeAurora AOSP, FPOS-OS and CyanogenMod sources, I’ve understand that FPOS is an Operating System, and operating systems are sensitive and hard. FPOS is based on Android, which is a comercial OS and it’s not designed with a rolling release update model in mind. I’m sure Fairphone team is performing at their best with that situation.
My position here is trust them and give them some flexibility. After that, I could be upset and ask them more things, as at the phone release time. I think its fair.
It would be great if these commits and comments would show up in Changelogs. With all the (code) release I’ve seen (while I was still trying), it was hard to track what really has happened between the different FPOOS versions. The commits/merges as far as I remember are not commented. All I saw was some fixes.
Maybe the code merge comes from the ODM/SoC or is it just pulled from CodeAurora and FP fixes the rest? Nobody ever explained how it is done. Or did I miss a blog post?
I think this is a good point and brings me to the whole issue of communication between users and developers. I do understand all the issues about manpower and the whole development process that are brought up here, but continuously just being asked to trust and wait is not only starting to stretch my patience - thats just my stuff, but it is no good marketing either. Just to clarify: I am not saying this to bash anybody, but in the contrary I do find (as probably most o us) that the idea of an open source OS on a Fairphone is great. And I can see great marketing potential.
I would appreciate a development process that is much more transparent and less behind closed doors than the current one. This would mean to adopt methods that protect developers from being pestered by users but on the other hand give users an insight about whats going on. Transparent development is for me an essential part of Open Source development. One solution for a start could be a bug-tracker similar to what you find on sites like Launchpad or Github. The bugtracker helps the devs to sort and manage the bugs and it helps the users in the form that it shows them any progress.
16.07.0 seems to be available, but the links on code.fairphone.com haven’t been updated yet - for whatever reason.
http://storage.googleapis.com/fairphone-updates/fp2-sibon-16.07.0-ota_from_gms-userdebug.zip
http://storage.googleapis.com/fairphone-updates/fp2-sibon-16.07.0-ota-userdebug.zip
[Update 18.08.2016]
The links stopped working. Seems that they have pulled the files.
Have you tried it? Maybe there are reasons why they have not put it on the public site ?
I’m asking myself the exact same question as @M_Dammer,
I just poked my nosy nose into the zip. After I was confused finding a modification date of 3rd. of December 2015 for the files I found this in the metadata file:
post-timestamp=1470688428
Translated from Unixtime into human readable time this means a build date of Monday 8th. of August 2016. This is promising, but I am stll wondering why there is radio silence from the FP team. As I said many times before: Please FP people be a bit more transparent and talkative about whats going on here. Even if your webmaster might be sick and cannot do the updates, then please tell us that it’s ok to use these files - we have now waited for almost two months for this update.
Last update was a month ago (mid july) and yes: it is holiday season in the Netherlands. This is the first phone I have that gets regular updates and only Google Nexus devices get monthly updates. The rest of the manufacturers just let the customer wait for many months or even much longer to get security patches; and sometimes never… My previous Sony Xperia V did get in three years less system updates than my FP 2 got in 4 months! I’m more than satisfied with the support from FP and if they can keep this up, I will buy in due time a FP 3 or FP 4.
I understand, but it really does not take a lot to just put out a blog post or a response in this forum to say “use it” - or wait.
So Fairphone should announce something only because we poke into their servers using a predefined URL pattern and discovered a new build? I don’t agree with that, sorry.
@Douwe’s answer is the last official news we got, although the forum is a community forum —doesn’t have (and doesn’t have to have, neither) official support other than moderators. I’ll stick with that announcement.
I’m feeling lately some kind of “Fairphone should do perfect and right now all that other OEMs had not do over a big amount of time” opinion and I, of course, doesn’t consider that fair from us. Criticism is good; overpressure isn’t.