Kinda nice to see Rebble backing down a bit and taking stock. I don't really blame them for their anxiety regarding pebbles future but honestly I was kind of confused by some of the issues they raised. Even this post seems kind of defensive but it's a step in the right direction. I'm especially pleased that they confirm they will be offering the face/app database to all. Phew.
I don't think any of us wanted a single entity to control the fate of pebble. And even when the group is a non profit or just a loose collection of FOSS people it's so easy for people to get territorial and precious. The whole accusing Core of stealing was embarrassing especially now that they admit they were just misreading server logs ๐ฎโ๐จ
I was so frustrated that it looked like both core and Rebble were trying to ensure their control over the game, but I'm glad that both sides are clearly stating that the future of pebble is decentralized and open. It's the only way to keep a niche device like this breathing IMO.
I've seen some commenters over on the other news aggregate site complaining that this all will damage the user experience and make things less seamless. I'm kind of of the opinion that pebble will never be a zero configure seamless consumer device again. We may need to do some legwork as users, and I'm ok with that.
I'm especially looking forward to the prospect of weird custom firmwares and hacking. That always seemed like a great fit for pebble to me? I guess we'll see what the future holds and hopefully there will be no more fighting from here on in ๐ค
After the announcement that Pebble was 100% open source I was wondering what Rebble's response would be. I kinda think their airing of dirty laundry kept Core in check. Eric knows his watches would be a far distant memory and a bad taste in the miuths of Pebble users were it not due to Rebble. Rebble knows they should be happy that Core is refreshing Pebble and making new hardware. They both benefit and it's important they remember they need each other.