Firefox OS[4]
(project name: Boot to Gecko, also known as B2G)[5]
is a Linux-based
open-source
operating system for
smartphones and
tablet computers. It is being developed by
Mozilla,
the
non-profit organization best known for the
Firefox
web browser. It is designed to provide a "complete"[6]
community-based alternative system for mobile devices, using
open standards and approaches such as
HTML5
applications,
JavaScript, a robust
privilege model, open web
APIs to communicate directly with cellphone hardware,[5]
and application marketplace. As such, it competes with proprietary
systems such as
Apple's iOS,
Google's
Android, and
Microsoft's
Windows Phone[6]
as well as other upcoming open source systems under development such as
Ubuntu Touch.
Firefox OS was publicly demonstrated in February 2012, on
Android-compatible
smartphones,[7][8]
and again in 2013 running on
Raspberry Pi.[9]
In January 2013, at
CES 2013, ZTE
confirmed they would be shipping a smartphone with Firefox OS,[10]
and on July 2, 2013, Telefónica launched the first commercial Firefox OS
based phone, ZTE Open, in Spain[11][12]
which was quickly followed by Geeksphone's Peak+[13].
Project inception and roll-out
Commencement
of project
On July 25, 2011, Dr.
Andreas Gal, Director of Research at
Mozilla Corporation, announced the "Boot to Gecko" Project (B2G) on
the mozilla.dev.platform mailing list.[6]
The project proposal was to "pursue the goal of building a complete,
standalone operating system for the open web" in order to "find the gaps
that keep web developers from being able to build apps that are – in
every way – the equals of native apps built for the iPhone [iOS],
Android, and WP7 [Windows Phone 7]."[6]
The announcement identified these work areas: new
web APIs
to expose device and OS capabilities such as telephone and camera, a
privilege model to safely expose these to web pages, applications to
prove these capabilities, and low-level code to
boot
on an Android-compatible device.
This led to much blog coverage.[14][15]
According to
Ars Technica, "Mozilla says that B2G is motivated by a desire to
demonstrate that the standards-based open Web has the potential to be a
competitive alternative to the existing single-vendor application
development stacks offered by the dominant mobile operating systems."[16]
In 2012, Mozilla’s Director of Research Andreas Gal expanded on
Mozilla's aims. He characterized the current set of mobile OS systems as
"walled
gardens"[17]
and presented Firefox OS as more accessible: "We use completely open
standards and there’s no proprietary software or technology involved."[17]
Gal also said that because the software stack is entirely HTML5, there
are already a large number of established developers.[17]
This assumption is employed in Mozilla's WebAPI.[18]
These are intended
W3C standards that attempt to bridge the capability gap that
currently exists between native frameworks and web applications.[19]
The goal of these efforts is to enable developers to build applications
using WebAPI which would then run in any
standards compliant browser without the need to rewrite their
application for each platform.
Development
history
In July 2012, Boot to Gecko was rebranded as 'Firefox OS',[20]
after Mozilla's well-known desktop browser,
Firefox,
and screenshots began appearing in August 2012.[21]
In September 2012, analysts Strategy Analysts forecast that Firefox
OS would account for 1% of the global smartphone market in 2013 – its
first year of commercial availability.[22]
In February 2013, Mozilla announced plans for global commercial
roll-out of Firefox OS.[23]
Mozilla announced at a press conference before the start of
Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona that the first wave of Firefox OS devices will be
available to consumers in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro,
Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. Firefox have also announced that
LG Electronics,
ZTE,
Huawei
and
TCL Corporation have committed to making Firefox OS devices.[24]
Demonstrations
At
Mobile World Congress 2012, Mozilla and
Telefónica announced that the Spanish telecommunications provider
intended to deliver "open Web devices" in 2012 based on HTML5 and these
APIs.[25]
Mozilla also announced support for the project from
Adobe and
Qualcomm, and that
Deutsche Telekom’s Innovation Labs will join the project.[26]
Mozilla demonstrated a "sneak preview" of the software and apps running
on
Samsung Galaxy S II phones (replacing their usual
Android operating system).[7][27]
In August 2012, a
Nokia
employee demonstrated the OS running on a
Raspberry Pi.[28]
Firefox OS is compatible with a number of devices, including Otoro,
PandaBoard, Emulator (ARM and x86),
Desktop,
Nexus S,
Nexus S 4G,
Samsung Galaxy S II, and
Galaxy Nexus.[29]
In December 2012, Mozilla rolled out another update and released
Firefox OS Simulator 1.0, which can be downloaded as an add-on for
Firefox. The latest version of Firefox OS Simulator, version 4.0, was
released on July 3, 2013[30]
and announced on July 11, 2013.[31]
Core technologies
The initial development work involves three major software layers:[32]
-
Gonk
Gonk consists of a
Linux kernel and user-space
hardware abstraction layer (HAL). The kernel and several user-space
libraries are common open-source projects: Linux,
libusb,
BlueZ, etc. Some other parts of the HAL are shared with the
Android project: GPS, camera, among others. Gonk is basically an
extremely simple Linux distribution and is therefore from Gecko's
perspective, simply a porting target of Gecko; there is a port of Gecko
to Gonk, just like there is a port of Gecko to OS X, and a port of Gecko
to Android. However, since the development team have full control over
Gonk, the developers can fully expose all the features and interfaces
required for comprehensive mobile platforms such as Gecko, but which
aren't currently possible to access on other mobile OSes. For example,
using Gonk, Gecko can obtain direct access to the full
telephony stack and display
framebuffer, but doesn't have this access on any other OS.[32]
Gecko
Gecko is the
application runtime of B2G. Gecko implements
open standards for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Gecko includes a
networking stack, graphics stack, layout engine, virtual machine (for
JavaScript), and porting layers.[32]
Gaia
Gaia is the user interface of Firefox OS and controls everything
drawn to screen. Gaia includes by default implementations of a lock
screen, home screen, telephone dialer and contacts application,
text-messaging application, camera application and a gallery support,
plus the classic phone apps: mail, calendar, calculator and marketplace.
Gaia is written entirely in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It interfaces
with the operating system through Open Web APIs, which are implemented
by Gecko. Because it uses only standard web APIs, it can work on other
OSes and other web-browsers.[32]
Release history
Version
[33] |
Release Date
[3] |
Codename |
Gecko Version |
Included Security Fixes |
1.0 |
February 21, 2013 |
TEF |
Gecko 18 |
Gecko 18 |
1.0.1 |
TBD |
Shira |
Gecko 18 |
Gecko 20 |
1.1.0 |
TBD |
Leo |
Gecko 18 |
Gecko 21 |
1.2.0 |
TBD |
Koi |
Nightly builds |
TBD |
Criticisms
Chris Ziegler of the technology blog
The
Verge wrote that it will take app distribution to pre-iPhone
era, requiring application developers to deal with multiple carriers and
their app stores.[34][35]
But at the
Mobile World Congress,
Gary Kovacs, the CEO of Mozilla, said that the devices matter less
than what they're able to run; apps make or break a mobile platform
these days, not hardware, and the advantage is that users don't have to
install an app to use it. Mozilla is making the most of this with the
search functionality built into Firefox OS, a core feature of the
platform.[36]
Janne Lindqvist, a mobile security researcher at the
Rutgers University Winlab, expressed concerns related to the
discovery mechanism of a web-based platform, but a Mozilla spokesperson
has stated that they are "requiring developers to package downloadable
apps in a zip file that has been cryptographically signed by the store
from which it originated, assuring that it has been reviewed." In
addition, "apps coming back from search are given only limited access to
device programming interfaces and applications, unless the user grants
permission for further access."[37]
Competition
Besides entry-level Android handsets,[38]
the main competition for Firefox OS is Nokia's
Asha platform,
Jolla's
Sailfish OS and
Jolla (mobile phone), Canonical's
Ubuntu Touch, and the Samsung-backed
Tizen.[dubious
–
discuss]
See also
References
-
^
B2G/Architecture - Mozilla Wiki.
- ^
a
b
- Mozilla Licensing Policies
- ^
a
b
"Index of /pub/mozilla.org/b2g/manifests/". Mozilla FTP
server. Retrieved 24 March
2013.
-
^
"The first mobile in Spain with firefox OS. Geekphone Keon y
Peak". 22 January 2013.
- ^
a
b
"Firefox OS". Mozilla. 21 August 2012.
Retrieved 17 September 2012.
-
^
a
b
c
d
Gal,
Andreas (2011-07-25).
"Booting to the web". mozilla.dev.platform mailing list.
Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^
a
b
Ginny
Maies (2012-02-28).
"First Look at Mozilla's Web Platform for Phones: 'Boot to
Gecko'".
PCWorld. Retrieved
2012-03-23.
-
^
"Mozilla making mobile OS using Android". blog. I
Didn't Know That!. July 2011.
Retrieved August 4, 2011.
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^
"Raspberry Pi". The Register. 22 January 2013.
Retrieved 22 January 2013.
-
^
"CES 2013: ZTE Firefox OS Smartphone Coming In 2013 |
TechWeekEurope UK". Techweekeurope.co.uk. 2013-01-10.
Retrieved 2013-02-26.
-
^
Aditya
Dey.
"Telefonica launches First Ever Firefox OS-based Phone in Spain".
TechStake. Retrieved July
2013.
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^
"First Firefox OS Smartphone Has Arrived: Telefonica Prices ZTE
Open At $90 In Spain, Latin American Markets Coming Soon |
TechCrunch". July 1, 2013.
Retrieved July 15, 2013.
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http://shop.geeksphone.com/en/
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"The Firefox Phone? Mozilla Working on Android-Esque OS".
blog. Gagagadget. July 26, 2011.
Retrieved August 4, 2011.
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^
Andrew Kameka (July 26, 2011).
"Mozilla borrows from Android to create its own mobile operating
system". blog. androinica.
Retrieved August 4, 2011.
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^
Ryan Paul (July 26, 2011).
"Mozilla eyes mobile OS landscape with new Boot to Gecko
project". Ars Technica.
Retrieved August 4, 2011.
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^
a
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"Mozilla’s Boot 2 Gecko and why it could change the world -
Features". Know Your Mobile. 2012-03-02.
Retrieved 2012-08-18.
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^
WebAPI
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^
"WebAPI - MozillaWiki". Wiki.mozilla.org.
Retrieved 2013-06-14.
-
^
Brown,
Mark (2012-08-08).
"Mozilla's HTML5 phone platform now called Firefox OS, launching
2013 (Wired UK)". Wired.co.uk.
Retrieved 2012-08-18.
-
^
"Mozilla shows off Firefox OS screenshots". The Inquirer.
Retrieved 2012-08-18.
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^
"Firefox OS to Capture 1 Percent Share of Global Smartphone
Market in 2013". Strategy Analytics.
Retrieved 2012-09-27.
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^
"Mozilla Announces Global Expansion for Firefox OS".
mozilla. 2013-02-24.
Retrieved 2013-03-27.
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^
"Mozilla reveals Firefox smartphone launch partners". BBC.
2013-02-24. Retrieved
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^
"Telefónica and Mozilla pioneer first Open Web Devices"
(Press release).
Telefónica. 2012-02-27.
Retrieved 2012-03-23.
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^
"Mozilla in Mobile – the Web is the Platform" (Press
release).
Mozilla. 2012-02-27.
Retrieved 2012-03-23.
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^
Chloe
Albanesius (2012-02-28).
"Mozilla Tackles Walled Gardens, Demos 'Boot to Gecko' Mobile
OS".
PCMag.com. Retrieved
2012-03-23.
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^
"Raspberry Pi now comes in Firefox OS flavour".
Theregister.com. Retrieved
2012-09-15.
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^
"B2G Build Prerequisites". Mozilla Developer Network.
Retrieved 9 September 2012.
-
^
"Firefox OS Simulator :: Versions :: Add-ons for Firefox".
Retrieved July 15, 2013.
-
^
Angelina
Fabbro (July 11, 2013).
"Firefox OS Simulator 4.0 released ✩ Mozilla Hacks – the Web
developer blog".
Retrieved 15 July 2013.
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^
a
b
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"B2G/Architecture wiki page". Mozilla wiki.
Mozilla. 2012-06-05.
Retrieved 2012-06-05.
-
^
"Release Management/B2G Landing - MozillaWiki". MozillaWiki.
Retrieved 24 March 2013.
-
^
Chris
Ziegler (2013-02-27).
"With Firefox OS, Mozilla gets a little dirty to clean the
mobile web". The Verge.
Retrieved 2013-06-14.
-
^
Chris
Ziegler (2013-02-28).
"Certified 'Powered by Firefox OS' devices require Firefox
Marketplace, minimum hardware specs". The Verge.
Retrieved 2013-06-14.
-
^
Mozilla Explains Why Firefox OS Apps Are Fundamentally Better
than Native Mobile Apps softpedia.com
-
^
Talbot,
David (2013-02-28).
"Security Researchers Raise Questions on How Mozilla’s
Web-Centric Firefox Mobile OS Will Stop Malicious Web Apps | MIT
Technology Review". Technologyreview.com.
Retrieved 2013-06-14.
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^
First Firefox OS phone arrives in Spain on Tuesday.
Computerworld (2013-07-01). Retrieved on 2013-07-18.
External links