"ext Acadia Secure Networks" <acadiasecurenets at aol.com> writes:
> while viewing the installed apps in "red-pill" mode on the N800 with the
> latest version of the OS installed, I noticed that there are several
> updates available including those for apps (or should I call them
> packages?) called magic:sys, libbluetooth2, and several others.
("magic:sys" is not a package, it is a 'fake' entry that the
Application Manager inserts in red-pill mode as an experimental
feature. Updating it will update all packages that are normally
hidden in blue-pill mode. It's kinda like apt-get dist-upgrade, but
less courageous with conflicts. Right now, "magic:sys" will always
appear in red-pill mode (unless deactivated from "Tools > Settings"),
regardless of whether there actually are updates available or not.)
> However, when I switch back to blue pill mode these updates disappear
> from view and the app manager indicates that there are not updates to
> install.
>
> This gives rise to several questions:
>
> 1. If these updates that I can see when the device is configured in
> red pill mode are updates to the core OS that have been released by
> Nokia (bug fixes perhaps?)
The updates are not released by Nokia. You picked them up by accident
from somewhere, maybe from a maemo SDK repository (which is not
officially supported to be used with the device, however strange this
might sound).
> then shouldn't these be visible in blue pill mode as well?
If they would be released by Nokia, then the Application Manager will
still not show them individually in blue-pill mode. You only get to
see a meta-package representing the whole OS.
> 2. Is there any reason not to install these updates, or at least the
> ones from Nokia that are part of the Nokia supported software baseline?
Unless required by applications, you shouln't install these packages
since you risk 'bricking' the device.
> 3. Is is the case that even though these updates do not appear when
> in blue pill mode, they will in fact get automatically
> downloaded/installed by the OS (Kind of a OS patch level self
> maintaining capability if you will)?
No. System updates will hopefully be possible via packages in the
future, but even then, they wont install themselves automatically.
You will get notified about updates, but you will always be able to
decline an upgrade.
> From what I now understand about red vs blue pill mode, it seems to
> be conceptually similar to the option provided within the Microsoft
> Windows OS/file system wherein Windows Explorer can be configured to
> either hide or make visible, files that are OS related. The
> difference seems to be that, in the case of the N800 OS, the hiding
> is done at the application (package?) level and not the file level.
I don't know about Windows Explorer, but this sounds like a fitting
description.
