[号外]Android Rom知名定制公司Cyanogen关闭服务！

官网已经打不开了：https://www.cyanogenmod.org/

公司首页：https://cyngn.com/

最近2016-12-23日声明停止服务：https://cyngn.com/blog/cyanogen-services-shutting-down

新闻来源：http://www.forbes.com/sites/ianmorris/2016/12/25/cyanogen-wanted-to-kill-googles-android-but-instead-killed-itself/#37c6114f1bae

Cyanogen Wanted To Kill Google's Android, But Instead Killed Itself

Cyanogen, the company responsible for the commercialisation of CyanogenMod is to cease all operations by the end of 2016. There will be no further updates to the OS, no more nightly builds and no further security updates. Phones that run the OS, like the original OnePlus handset, will need to switch to the Open Source version of the OS.

The company had some success selling its OS to manufacturers like WileyFox and OnePlus that lacked the resources to build their own customised Android interfaces. And it's true to say that the mod, in its early form, was the go-to build for people who wanted more features than Android offered in the Google build. Sadly, the most high-profile customer OnePlus pulled the plug and moved to its own build of Android called OxygenOS.

The open source project upon which Cyanogen was based can, and probably will, continue. The big problem it now faces is the same as any Android mod, namely time and resources. It's hard to make money on mods, and with Android getting more and more capable every iteration mods are also less necessary than they were when Cyanogen first started out.

While continuing is a likely, it won't be easy and the CyanogenMod team made a statement describing the shutdown as "[a] death blow". It will certainly be hard to continue without resources and that leaves those who no longer have official support with handsets that won't get security patches. This is a major problem, and many of those users probably won't want to move themselves over to the open source version of the OS.

So is it a surprise we're here? Not really, just last month Forbes Contributor Ryan Whitwam posted that the company was cutting back, reducing staff numbers and would ultimately close completely.

One of the most astonishing quotes I've ever read about Cyanogen was right here, on Forbes, back in 2015. It came from Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen, and he said "We're putting a bullet through Google's head". This was everything a soundbite needed to be, crass and attention grabbing. Sadly though - and I did mutter this to myself at the time - it was nothing more than an empty threat.

The problem is, it's hard to put a bullet in the head of a company which makes the thing you based your product on. Cyanogen was nothing without the Android Open Source Project, which is the unrestricted version of Google's Android OS. Usually, it's packaged without the Google Play Services which make Android such a powerful proposition. It's hard to turn this into a workable version of Android unless you can source an alternative app store too. However, Cyanogen did manage to make a deal with Google that allowed it to package its services along with the OS it sold to third-parties.

One thing is clear though, it's really hard to beat Google at its own game. Cyanogen was a product that offered Android phone owners an alternative to the heavily customised UIs of their phones. But since, Google has released devices like the Pixel and Samsung, LG and Sony have all paired back the level of customisation they add to devices - partly in response to Cyanogen and other mods.

Cyanogen gave us a lot of good stuff in the world of Android phones. We should thank them - certainly the open source project, of not the incorporated company that will fold soon. It's possible to argue that this OS made everything better in Android. Who knows, perhaps even Google was paying attention?

谷歌翻译了下：

Cyanogen想要杀死谷歌的Android，而最后却杀了自己

Cyanogen，负责CyanogenMod商业化的公司将在2016年年底前停止所有操作。将不会有更多的操作系统更新，没有更多的夜间构建，没有进一步的安全更新。运行操作系统的手机，如原始的OnePlus手机，将需要切换到操作系统的开源版本。

该公司已经将其操作系统卖给了WileyFox和OnePlus等制造商，这些公司缺乏创建自己定制的Android界面的资源。这是真的说，这个mod，在早期的形式，是为那些想要更多的功能比Android提供的谷歌构建的人。遗憾的是，最高端的客户OnePlus拉出了插头，并移动到自己的Android OxygenOS的构建。

Cyanogen所基于的开源项目可以，也可能会继续。现在面临的大问题与任何Android模块相同，即时间和资源。这是很难赚钱的mods，和Android越来越多的能力每一次迭代mods也比他们在Cyanogen第一次开始时不太有必要。


虽然继续是一个可能，这不会是容易的，CyanogenMod团队做了一个声明，描述关机为“[a]死亡打击”。如果没有资源，这将是很难继续，并留下那些谁不再有手机的官方支持，将不会得到安全补丁。这是一个主要问题，许多用户可能不想将自己移动到开源版本的操作系统。

那么这是一个惊喜，我们在这里？不是真的，就在上个月福布斯供稿商Ryan Whitwam表示，该公司正在缩减，减少员工人数，并将最终完全关闭。

我从前读过的关于Cyanogen的一个最令人惊讶的报价就在这里，在2015年的福布斯。来自Cyanogen的首席执行官Kirt McMaster，他说“我们正在通过Google的头脑”。这是一个需要的声音，粗暴和注意力。可悲的是，当时我已经对自己这样做了 - 这只是一个空的威胁。

问题是，很难把一个子弹在公司的头部，使你的产品基于你的产品。 Cyanogen没有Android开源项目，这是谷歌的Android操作系统的无限制版本。通常，它包装没有谷歌播放服务，这使Android这样一个强大的命题。很难将它变成一个可行的Android版本，除非你可以提供另一个应用商店。然而，Cyanogen确实设法与谷歌交易，允许它包装其服务与操作系统，它卖给第三方。

有一件事是清楚的，但是真的很难在自己的游戏中击败Google。 Cyanogen是一个产品，为Android手机用户提供了一个替代手机的高度自定义的UI。但自从谷歌已经发布像Pixel和三星，LG和索尼的设备都已配对回他们添加到设备的定制水平 - 部分是响应Cyanogen和其他mods。

Cyanogen给了我们在Android手机世界上很多好东西。我们应该感谢他们 - 当然是开源项目，不是即将倒闭的公司。有可能争辩说，这个操作系统在Android中做得更好。谁知道，也许Google很注意？