Inerview with XDA’s Gokussjx

What country are you from?
I’m from India

How old are you?
Turned 19, 3 months ago.

What pets do you have?
Virtual? Nyan 

I got my Galaxy S I9000, Galaxy S3 I9300, & my Dobby (Lhasa Apso) to play with.
When did you start putting ROM’s out?

Exactly 1 month from now, July 1st 2012.
How did you get interested in building ROMs?

Right since the day I held my first ever Android phone (June 2011), I was amazed at the flexibility & power of Android.
I joined XDA around the same period, June, but didn’t really get involved in it until November 2011.
When I found out about how much more we can really do with it, I started diving in, for obvious reasons. 

What previous experience as a developer did you have before starting to work on Android?
Nothing noteworthy. Mostly minor scripting & coding, in HTML, C++.
Some more minor work on Symbian S60 v3 (my previous favourite).
My development chapter, began on XDA.

Do you develop your ROM’s on your own or in a team?
Technically, I handle the ROM on my own, but there’re many, whom I owe, for guiding & helping me out in multiple cases where I needed help.
Almost everyone in my XDA friendlist, has been a great ‘team-member’.
Officially, I’m not a member of ParanoidAndroid team, but I would like to think of myself as one.

What type of feedback did you get when you made your first ROM?
If the ratings are worth, then overwhelmingly Positive.
Its always great to see your very first work so highly appreciated.

What do you think makes your ROM so popular?
The ParanoidAndroid name, has already made quite a dent in the Development Timeline.
People love the concept of PAD (Per-App-Density) & PAL (Per-App-Layout). The flexibility of having every app in its own custom DPI & Layout. (Thanks to molesarecoming & D4rKn3sSyS)

Secondly, I continued the Galaxy S3 port when one of the lead developers – D4rKn3sSyS, had to retire from S3 port, due to all the pain of developing for a device he doesn’t own (Respect for him, he even did that in the first place!).

Thirdly, I keep the ROM updated as per latest CM10 changes & PA changes, be it nightlies or even previews.
(Although, in rare cases when the changes are incremental, I choose to skip the release.)

 What are the differences between the various versions of your ROM?
As of now, we’re running through an alpha stage of JB-PA development, & its going superb, thanks to the CM team & the PA team. Any minor or major fix localized to my SGS3 port, are usually fixed in the subsequent release. Major features or aesthetic changes are done by the PA team, pertaining to the fact that the PA sources are not yet open to public. CM changes & fixes are of course integrated into PA, so any updates or commit changes, automatically get reflected in our future releases.
In the last 2-3 releases, we got new options to modify SystemUI (notifications bar, for instance), theme engine support, fixed graphical glitches in Phone/Hybrid-Phablet/Tablet Modes, modded loud audio hacks, & working camera + video camera (with Sound)

Which version of your ROM will you suggest to someone who wants the best battery life on their phone?

Definitely the JellyBean-PA- v1.9.3a. No question of it, JB is a kick-ass increment over ICS when it comes to almost every parameter of comparison, inclusive of battery, speed, smoothness, thermal efficiency, animations etc

What kernel(s) do you recommend to use with your ROM?
Stock CM Kernel works out of he box.
Its always the choice for any user by default.
But for those who love to play around with Kernel features such as OC/UV, CPU/GPU tweaks, Audio enhancements etc, I would totally recommend giving Gokhanmoral’s Siyah Kernel (v1.5 b3, at the time of writing) a try.

What ROMs do you enjoy, aside from your own?
CM10.

What is your favourite launcher?

Right since Froyo & GingerBread, GO Launcher.

Since ICS (& now JB), I like both the stock & Nova Launcher, but use Nova on daily basis.

How do you feel about the future of Android?
The present definition of Android says it all:
“Android is a ‘successful’, ‘open-source’, ‘linux-based’, ‘mobile’ operating system.”
Its future’s pretty self-explanatory.

Looking back to the days of Cupcake/donut, & now, in contrast, exposed to the presence of ICS & JB, Android has covered more leagues than ANY OS in history. By some uncredited derivative of Moore’s Law, technology is growing exponentially, & not just in growth, but also in terms of ‘Rate of Growth’.
Android, in my opinion, is the past, present & the future. In the very near future, every AI or household device would run on Android, or derivatives. Universal Android controllers are already hypothesized (probably in prototype stage), but soon, its gonna be everywhere, all around us. There’s no limit to what Android can do, or what we can do on/with it.

Are there any other developers or notable people to whom you are especially grateful of?
Many, many & many!
I am grateful to CM team, for making all of this possible, right since the old Android days, to the PA team (molesarecoming & D4rKn3sSyS), for implementing such a revolutionary idea of Hybrid Modes on Android.
I credit all those who helped me along the glitchy times. Daxmax, swapnilraj, & so many others (as listed on my thread) have played a major role.

Are you doing some kind of development as your full time job, or is there something else that you enjoy?
I’m a student, & yet to graduate.
I develop, coz I love to. I enjoy every second I spend in progressing this amazing OS & community.
I love everything technological (gadget based or not), reading & discussing about Space, Particle, Quantum, Relativistic, & Theoretical Physics. Crazy about physics…
I love to read. (novels & literature)
I am a Music enthusiast, & love to sing, play the piano, guitar, & the flute.

Do you have any other projects readers might be interested in?

Many backbones & frames in mind, but not yet fully devised to present.
May be, may be not. Time will tell.

Have you had any experiences with other platforms like Windows Mobile or iOS, and how do you think development of Android in the future compares to those platforms?

I had previous minor previous experience with Symbian S60 v3.
The comparison… is laughable, & uncanny. Symbian is nigh dead.
At its time, Symbian rocked! The custom options, the Hacks, the apps (especially, the apps), the themes, were really easy & customizable, like never before.

Now, the future, IS Open Source platforms. And the top most of them all, is, & probably will be, Android.

Do you maintain an active blog or social network (like G+, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) where readers can follow you?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/gokussjx
Facebook: http://facebook.com/bidyutm
G+: https://plus.google.com/110687990375645527278/

How will you recommend young developers get started with developing for Android?
Dive in. Explore. Take chances.

I’ve seen most of the young wanna-be-devs running around, asking for exact step-by-step guides to xyz etc.
That’s not the way it should be.
If you want to be an active Android contributor, start breaking things apart, comparing, looking into the available tools, exploring.
And, there’re tonnes & tonnes of guides & tutorials on XDA itself (not to mention, the rest of the internet)
Start searching, reading, & try everything a hands-on.

And if you’re really serious about development, start learning codes.
Learn basic languages such as C,
move on to OOPs such as C++, JAVA at the very least. Make it your goal to understand every technical bit & aspect of how Android works. Try reading codes, & reverse-engineering. Again, dive-in.

Where can users download your work on XDA?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show….php?t=1745003

Interview with Codeworkx, recognized Android Developer

One of the best known custom Android ROM’s is Cyanogenmod. If you are a flashaholic, chances are that you have tried Cyanogenmod – and probably liked it. Cyanogenmod Cyanogenmod (also known as CM) is a customized aftermarket firmware distribution available on almost all popular Android devices. Recently they’ve made CM10 for the S3, which is based on Android Jelly Bean. They are also the leaders in porting Jelly Bean to the Galaxy S2, and just recently released their experimental CM10 (JB) for the S2. There is a team of respected developers, called Teamhacksung, who are well-known for their help on development for Cyanogenmod on Samsung devices.. I had the opportunity to ask Codeworkx, one of the developers in the team, a few questions. What country are you from? I’m from Germany. How old are you? Wait… lemme think about it… 28 years old. What pets do you have? 5 Smartphones and 1 Tablet. What ROM does your girlfriend/wife use on her phone? CyanogenMod on the I9100G. How did Teamhacksung start? How did you get interested in building ROMs? We started on the I9000 (Galaxy S) because there wasn’t CM or any AOSP based ROM available. Used CM before on my HTC Dream aka. Google ADP1 and missed it a lot. It was the first time we started to play with Android sourcecode and compiling it. Do the team members work in the same physical location, or are you located apart? It’s a hobby, so everyone is working at home. Our devs are located across the world. What previous experience as a developer did you have before starting to work on Android? Mostly webdeveloping (PHP, Javascript) and some little tools in C#. What tipe of feedback did you get when you made your first ROM? A huge wave of thanks, requests, stupid posts. The same like you get today! What do you think makes your ROM so popular? CyanogenMod is not “my” rom. There’s a big team behind this which is doing the whole magic. Also, a lot of stuff comes from the community itself. CyanogenMod is clean, simple, full of usefull features and extremly fast. It’s how Android should be. A lot of people like the pure Google experience. It also brings new Android versions to devices where the manufacturer dropped support for. What are the goals you want Cyanogenmod ROMs to achieve? World domination. Maybe a phone which gets shipped with CM preinstalled. Would be cool. What are the differences between the various versions of your ROM(CM7,9,10)? 07 = based on Gingerbread 09 = based on Icecream Sandwich 10 = based on Jellybean 11 = based on K****** Are there any non-CM kernels that your users enjoy with your ROMs? A lot, but i don’t care about custom kernels. What ROMs do you enjoy or follow, aside from your own? Only CM. All my devices are running CM. The Cyanogenmod team is currently developing for a myriad of different devices. Are there any specific devices you want to support soon? We’re grabbing as much as possible. Mostly phones with a great userbase. Spending countless hours on a low activity device doesn’t make much sense. What is your favourite launcher? Trebuchet. Simple and does it’s job. What will your next personal phone be? Probably a Nexus phone again. Best choice for people who want to flash custom roms. Or a OMAP5 phone. *hrhr* How do you feel about the future of Android? Afaik Android is the biggest mobile platform. Don’t think that this will change in future. Google is clever enough to beat competitors. Are there any other developers or notable people to whom you are especially grateful of outside of Teamhacksung? All CyanogenMod devs and everyone who’s contributing to this great project. Are you doing some kind of development as your full time job, or is there something else that you enjoy? I’m a buyer. Buying spare parts for a maintenance department and managing outside firms. No coding. You just recently released the experimental CM10 for the SGS2. What were some of the biggest obstacles with the S2/Note that you had to overcome, or still have to overcome in future releases to bring flashers the Jelly Bean experience? Working on the exynos platform is just painfull. Working on samsung phones in general is painfull because of the missing support from samsung itself. They’re living behind closed doors. Do you have any other projects readers might be interested in? Don’t think so. Android consumes most of my freetime. There’s not much time to do anything else. Have you hade any experiences with other platforms like Windows Mobile or iOS, and how do you think development of Android in the future compares to those platforms? I don’t like closed platform and will never touch them. Opensource is the way to go, so everyone can put his brain into it, work together and create something special. And that’s why i like android. There are so much possibilities. Do you maintain an active blog or social network (like G+, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) where readers can follow you? http://www.codeworkx.de How will you recommend young developers get started with developing for Android? Learning by doing is the key. Brewing custom kernels seems to be the easiest thing to start with because you’re getting kernel sources from the manufacturers which should work out of the box. Where can users download your work on XDA? On a lot of different threads in the device forums. Here you can see Codeworkx’s current devices as seen on his signature on XDA at time of writing: CyanogenMod Device Maintainer for Samsung Devices Phones: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 GT-P5100: 3.0.y, CWM 6, CM 10 Samsung Galaxy S III GT-I9300: 3.0.y, CWM 6, CM 10 Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250: 3.0.y, CWM 6, CM 10 Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100: 3.0.y, CWM 6, CM 10 Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100G: 3.0.y, CWM 6, CM 10 Samsung Galaxy SL GT-I9003: 2.6.35.y, CWM 5, CM 9 R.I.P: HTC Dream, HTC Desire HD, LG Optimus 2X, Galaxy S G+: http://gplus.to/codeworkx Twitter: http://twitter.com/codeworkx Blog: http://www.codeworkx.de Teamhacksung: http://www.teamhacksung.org IRC: #teamhacksung-support @ freenode Here are some links that might be of interest to you: I9100 CM10 I9300 CM10 Codeworkx’s blog Teamhacksung website Cyanogenmod website Download Cyanogenmod I would like to thank Codeworkx for the excellent work that he and the other team members of Teamhacksung do for the Android community. Please leave comments below! EDIT: I was privileged to be able to ask Codeworkx’s fellow team member, XpLoDWilD a few questions too. You can read it at Interview with XpLoDWild from Teamhacksung on Cyanogenmod.

Siyah Kernel’s Developer, Gokhanmoral, Interview

Siyahkernel is one of the best known kernels on the Samsung Galaxy S2, and recently on the Galaxy S3. The host of features this kernel provide makes it a popular choice among newbies and experienced Android users.

What I have come to love about Siyah on my Galaxy S2 is the host of features that can be accessed through the ExTweaks App. Whether you want to improve performance, battery life, enable BLN (back light notification), adjust screen settings, or dual boot between two ROMs  – it can all be done with this kernel.

I have been fortunate to ask the developer of this popular Android kernel a few questions. This is what Gokhanmoral had to say.

Where are you from?
I’m from Turkey, living in Ankara, the capital.

How old are you?
37. Quite old compared to other devs on the XDA board but it has some advantages. I am not seeking for trouble as I had enough in my life already 

When did you start putting out your first kernel?
If you mean Android kernel, about 10 months ago…

How did you get interested in building kernels?
I was making some modifications for myself and then I started to share them. It still did not change. I am sharing what I use for myself.

Do you develop your kernel on your own or in a team?
On my own.. I am not a member of a team or a group.

What type of feedback did you get when you made your first kernel?
First it was created in the Android Development section (not in the Original Android Development section) as it didn’t feel like it deserved the “original” title, and only when I felt like it deserved to be in Original section I asked the mods to move it there.
People liked the kernel at first, and some of the changes were my “dreams”, such as supporting both Cyanogenmod and Samsung ROM’s with a single kernel image, and dual-booting, and breathing effect, and many others. People liked some of them, and some people did not like the number of options available in the kernel.
I received both positive and negative feedback from users. As they are human the feedback is sometimes far from objective.

What is your goal or idea with Siyah Kernel? What do you aim to achieve with it?
I have no goal in kernel development. 
I was not trying to achieve anything and I still do not. I believe in open source and sharing. Siyahkernel is not my kernel, it is owned by the community, and it is more Linus’s work than mine. Most of the developers forget the fact that their changes are so little compared to what is already in there.

I wasn’t even thinking about being a recognized developer and was really happy being a senior member on XDA.  Then, one day I noticed that the admins selected me as an elite recognized developer. It was very surprising and I must say that it felt good  but even if I wasn’t selected as one SiyahKernel would have the same features and strategy.
So, I make some changes and share and people like it. They thank me and that’s all that matters.

What do you think makes Siyahkernel so popular?
Honesty.. the kernel always has bugs. Sometimes very serious bugs, sometimes tiny, but I never tried to hide anything and never lied.
I do not have a problem with saying “I don’t know” and most people like that.
Of course, the existing features are also the reason for the popularity, but there are other kernels which have the same features.

Which ROM do you use as a daily driver?
It changes a lot. I support most of them and therefore I have to change ROM’s sometimes daily to make some tests.

What is your favourite launcher?
Nova. but it doesn’t mean that it is the best one. I liked it, I am used to it and it fulfills my needs.
You are currently developing for both the S2 and S3. Do you have plans to work on any other phones?
No. I am sharing something that I do for myself. Maybe I can develop some apps that supports other phones but I won’t develop kernels for phones that I don’t have, unless they are very similar (like ones I did for S2).

What will your next phone be?
I don’t know, but I like Samsung hardware and quality. Unless they make a big mistake in the future I will try to follow their products.

What are your biggest plans for the future of your kernel (features etc. you want to include)?
Dualbooting for S3. It may sound as if it is not a big plan as I have already done it in S2, but I want to make it in a proper way for S3.

When will you be happy with the kernel for the S2 (and stop improving on it)?
I am already happy with the current one and I don’t add too much fancy experimental features as it is used by my wife and I want to have a happy marriage 

How do you feel about the future of Android in relation to active development and market share?
I won’t say that “Android is the future”. I am more a user than a developer for the Android world. Personally, I don’t like to be limited in any way and Android gives me that freedom.
There may be people who prefer to spend less time on something and therefore choose other platforms.
As long as we have the freedom of choice there will be more than one option and some of them will be popular as they are today.

Are there any other developers or notable people to whom you are especially grateful of?
Lots.. I don’t want to name them all as I am afraid of missing one or two…

Are you doing some kind of development as your full time job, or is there something else that you enjoy?
I am an embedded systems developer in my daily job.

Do you have an opinion on whether or not we will get Jelly Bean Android on the Samsung Galaxy S2?
I think (and hope) that Teamhacksung will make a port when they finish with the initial port for S3. They are just great developers!

Do you have any other projects readers might be interested in?
Recently I decided to make some audio enhancements for S2 and S3 (apps, not just kernel side) and those will provide some free alternatives to users.
As for my first project I developed Fastdormancy Toggle app for the Galaxy S3 (should also work on other Galaxy variants) and next was STweaks, a configurator for my kernel and some others which use /res/uci.sh interface that me and Xan developed together.
Next app will be a Voodoo Louder alternative for galaxys2

Have you hade any experiences with other platforms like Windows Mobile or iOS, and how do you think development of Android in the future compares to those platforms?
I have quite a lot of windows mobile and .NET experience but no iOS experience yet. To me, Windows is so slow and Apple is so close.
I am not sure about Windows Mobile but I am sure Apple will be a notable competitor for quite some time for Android.

Do you maintain an active blog or social network (like G+, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) where readers can follow you?
No. I just use XDA forums to announce my kernels. but I have a twitter account (gokhanmoral), facebook (gokhan.moral) and google+ (gokhan.moral) but I do not use them actively. I recently used twitter for a discussion and maybe I will continue to use it for some minor announcements…

Where can users download your kernel and discuss it on XDA?
I have two active threads: one in Original Development section in i9300 and one in Original Development section of i9100 on XDA.
There are some general discussion threads in other sections which I ask users to chat and talk about battery life and non-development related issues.
I also read them, but not as frequently.

***

I’d like to thank Gokhanmoral for answering these questions and I hope it familiarizes more people with his excellent work on Siyahkernel.

You can visit the following related links:

• Download latest Siyah Kernel for Gokhanmoral’s site and get changelog
• Siyah Kernel for Galaxy S3 development discussion
• Siyah Kernel for Galaxy S2 development discussion
• Unofficial discussion of Siyah Kernel – Question and Answers
• How to dual boot XDA thread
• How to dual boot stock Samsung and a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod

Here is Gokhanmoral’s current setup as per his signature on XDA forums:

• Device: Samsung Galaxy S3
• Kernel: SiyahKernel-s3 (latest beta) w/
• CPU: 100-1200MHz, Pegasusq, 18-steps, -100mV for all steps
• GPU: 160-266-350-440MHz with -50mV at each step. thresholds: 70-50 90-70 90-80 staycounts: 0-0-0-1
• I/O scheduler: deadline
• CFS-defaults: linuxkernel
• Cpu Idle Mode: Idle+LPA
• Max-cpu-lock: quad-core mode or single-core mode (rarely when I need battery life)
• AC Charge: 1200mA, USB Charge: 800mA
• Insecure adbd

Please give feedback via the comments!