This announcement marks the official launch of the third web site being added to Libervis Network, MobiLiberty.com, a project of promoting Free Software and Free Standards in the world of mobile devices, from phones to mp3 (and ogg) players to various other mobile gadgets. It is starting with a rather minimal base, a multi-user blog containing interesting articles and news posts written by on site as well as offsite bloggers via RSS who write about the same subject. As such it can be seen as a combination of a blog and a moderated planet site.
However, we intend to expand on from this base as deemed needed, and in accordance to the feedback we hope to receive from the community. We already have a poll running about whether to add forums or not which allows you to decide whether the community needs support forums for open mobile devices or not, rather than us guessing the decision ourselves.
It is worth noting that MobiLiberty.com was largely inspired by the OpenMoko project. About the time iPhone was announced by Apple, I was exposed to OpenMoko. This is when I have written a story that circulated a bit around the web: "Forget iPhone, hail OpenMoko, the true revolution". In all of its glory, iPhone didn't impress me as much as OpenMoko's Neo1973, despite it currently being behind in technical terms.
What OpenMoko has, and iPhone doesn't, is an incredibly more fundamental value: it is open, powered by Free Software and Free Standards. No matter how beautiful and powerful Apple makes their phone, they can't defeat the building blocks which rest on openness and freedom to build upon. It is this liberty to build on which will allow for real innovation and indeed a real revolution in the mobile world and even the world of computing.
I had to be there and participate in this revolution. I had to launch this site. This site is all about mobile devices following the same path that OpenMoko takes. It is about making your device truly yours to do wish as you please, from installing, removing and even programming software that runs on it: just hack it as you like it. Trust me, hacking will no longer be limited to geeks only.
This is what I wish to promote as the true Mobile 2.0. Some say that Mobile 2.0 is all about web on the move, web on mobile devices. That may be true, but consider what exactly has made the web a success it is; Free Software and Free Standards are at the core of its infrastructure. Indeed, Web 2.0 is also all about openness and cooperation, a dialog that is not limited only to the privileged. Everyone with access to the internet can participate.
We wont truly reach this ideal if software running on our devices is locked, if our hardware doesn't know how to talk to each other, if you have to buy a special kind of connector for every new mobile phone you buy. Mobile 2.0 is about removing all of these constraints. OpenMoko is an example of true Mobile 2.0.
So welcome to this new world. Welcome to Mobile Liberty and welcome to the place where we will be talking about that exactly, MobiLiberty.com.
We hope your feedback and support will help shape the future of this project. We wont do it alone! ;)
Thank you
Danijel Orsolic
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Libervis Network background:
Libervis Network is a web publishing entity striving to promote freedom in a digital world, and build a succesful business without compromising that vision. The web site which started it all, Libervis.com is today an established discussion community portal on digital freedoms, featuring challenging intellectual discussions about the digital world around us and how freedom fits the picture.
Nuxified.org is a friendly Free Software support community site unique in its guidelines against elitism, "RTFM"-talk and similar unfriendly behaviour and being light on advertising.
Libervis Network has an advertising policy which makes sure advertising on our sites is not inappropriate (not advertising proprietary software) and excessive.
Creole lady marmalade say goodbye to your proprietary pimps and hello to freedom.
This is great, I've been constantly appalled at seeing great specs described on handset manufacturers sites only to read that the networks may not enable the facilities, and even when they do, it's based on some Neanderthal strategy to extract the maximum possible cash from my wallet. Well that's not going to happen, ever.
The Sharp handset/camera I thought I bought a few years ago turned out to be a Vodafone network access device. Though it has a camera and pc interface I can't transfer photos to my pc that way, turned out I have to pay to send an mms to my vodafone email account. First toll camera I ever had. And last. That was a mistake, a waste of a lens and ccd, I won't use mms on principle and refuse to upgrade unless MY new handset allows me to use it's features MY WAY. Sing it.
Openmoka is progress on the road to getting mobile past repeating the same intelligent network mistakes of fixed line networks and toward adopting open standards. Commodity IP, that's all we want, that's all we need.
But network providers, don't take a commodity business and try to pretend it's value-added, or try to limit our choices with crafty (not) N-play bundles, won't work, read Lawrence Lessig.
If networks want to be in fat margin value-added businesses then move into those areas, advertising, media, content aggregation, great, buy 'em up, now's the time because sooner or later a new network will bypass the incumbents and give us what we want.
Indeed, thanks democrates for commenting.
Btw, some clarifications that I've been pointed to. OpenMoko is actually a name of the software stack which is Free Software and will run on smartphones like Neo1973. But they will run on other phones as well, and there will probably be other phones with OpenMoko stack on it in the future. Neo1973 is just the first native one, and good because it is really produced with an awesome lot of community input. It's development is completely transparent. Just look at their wiki.
This is why I'm definitely buying it once the mass market version comes out, if not sooner (if I am able) to support the project and learn more about it first hand.
I should be setting up an FAQ on OpenMoko, but other free standards/software powered mobiles this week.
Also, looks like we will be setting up support forums as well. Most votes on the poll welcome the idea. :)
Cheers
Danijel