[bluenote]

HP shutting down open app feeds, putting PreCentral App Gallery and Preware into a bind | PreCentral.net | The #1 Palm Pre and Pixi Community

Not entirely sure what this means, wondering if someone could give a clear explanation of what access we lose by this and what could be the potential workarounds?

Thanks!

[peterlemonjello]

Any idea why hp is doing this?

[bluenote]

Another great question.

If I understand Derek's article correctly, some corporate and govt customers want to either have private apps and they're afraid they will no longer be private if Preware accesses the feeds or they simply want their apps to only show up in the catalog (for fears someone could download them otherwise without paying?).

But I'm not sure so would love to get some clarification from someone who understands this.

[Grabber5.0]

I can only think of two things: $ and mega-corporate-lack-of-caring-about-the-little-guy

[bluenote]

Hmmn, here's another speculation:

I remember Leo saying something recently about showcasing apps in a magazine type of approach (see below). Sounds to me like HP might want to control access in this way so as to differentiate themselves to developers from the competition:

http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ml#post2980578

[Cantaffordit]

Another great question.

If I understand Derek's article correctly, some corporate and govt customers want to either have private apps and they're afraid they will no longer be private if Preware accesses the feeds or they simply want their apps to only show up in the catalog (for fears someone could download them otherwise without paying?)..

^^ I agree that this is what it means (I think)... If companies build apps for internal use (like if you start seeing the UPS drivers carrying touchpads on their delivery route) that stuff can't be public. But I would think that HP would make that optional, not all-or-nothing...

[netwrkr9]

Big carriers like Verizon do not like subscribers having access to apps like "Free Tether" so they want to have total control on what is being released to the user base.

[nappy]

Couldn't private apps just use ad hoc distribution rather than going through the App Catalog?

[Grabber5.0]

Couldn't private apps just use ad hoc distribution rather than going through the App Catalog?

Yes, though when you read the fine print of the developer agreement, it gets a little gray to me for anything more than testing. But then, so does the homebrew catalog - I never could find the loophole that makes that acceptable, unless it's a disclaimer that they are 'testing apps'

[malpha]

It is possible for a developer to set up their own (private) feeds. If homebrew developers can do it, so can the government rather than bringing down the ban hammer for everyone else.

[malpha]

Big carriers like Verizon do not like subscribers having access to apps like "Free Tether" so they want to have total control on what is being released to the user base.

This decision only applies to the official Palm App Catalog, Web, and Beta feeds. FreeTether is located on the WebOSInternals feed, which is completely unaffected by HP's decision.

[addiarmadar]

And now we know why HP donated a server to Rod

Pretty certain HP is doing this for security reasons but it is not the end of the world, just gotta move some apps to a different feed and make nice with Preware and quick install.

[nappy]

It is possible for a developer to set up their own (private) feeds. If homebrew developers can do it, so can the government rather than bringing down the ban hammer for everyone else.

That's just speculation at this point, right? It just doesn't seem like an overly likely scenario to me.

How many government agencies even use webOS, much less deploy their internal apps using the App Catalog?

[addiarmadar]

It is possible for a developer to set up their own (private) feeds. If homebrew developers can do it, so can the government rather than bringing down the ban hammer for everyone else.

Yes you can but will need to use Preware or quick install to pull the feed. Some devs already do this for beta access.

[bluenote]

This decision only applies to the official Palm App Catalog, Web, and Beta feeds. FreeTether is located on the WebOSInternals feed, which is completely unaffected by HP's decision.

Are the "Web and Beta feeds" official Palm feeds but for beta access or if not, what are they?
If they are, seems like HP is shutting off alternate access for the official feeds. So PreWare could set up unofficial feeds, is that right, from the PreWare server? And could developers get paid for download from the unofficial feeds?

I'm still unclear on the exact nature of this event.

[mhunterjr]

Big carriers like Verizon do not like subscribers having access to apps like "Free Tether" so they want to have total control on what is being released to the user base.

this has nothing to do with it. This is not about custom feeds, its about palm's official app feeds.

Are the "Web and Beta feeds" official Palm feeds but for beta access

yes

If they are, seems like HP is shutting off alternate access for the official feeds.

exactly

So PreWare could set up unofficial feeds, is that right, from the PreWare server? And could developers get paid for download from the unofficial feeds?

preware does support custom feeds, but to my knowledge there is no currently no way to purchase apps through this method. But developers have ways of creating their own pay systems, like having the user pay for access codes.

[bluenote]

Hmmn, here's another speculation:

I remember Leo saying something recently about showcasing apps in a magazine type of approach (see below). Sounds to me like HP might want to control access in this way so as to differentiate themselves to developers from the competition:

http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ml#post2980578

Well here is the tweet from Kerris:

Re: RSS feeds… Patience please, while we work behind the scenes… New store, 100% focused on developers. Eager to reveal it @ launch

[mhunterjr]

Well here is the tweet from Kerris:

Re: RSS feeds… Patience please, while we work behind the scenes… New store, 100% focused on developers. Eager to reveal it @ launch

lol how patient do they expect people to be! I'm fairly confident that a lot of the angst will blow over after launch, but a little transparency would be nice at this point.

[EvilKell]

We'll probably know more in the coming months.

[mu7efcer]

The only way that I know to access the web & beta feeds is via preware or WOSQI. What is the "official" way to access those feed?