14 DAY TRIAL // A second Hackathon has just been completed in China, and developers from all over the country came ready to play with Ubuntu and all sorts of gadgets.
Hackathons are very short meetings for developers in which they try to make cool apps or come with ideas for devices and other gadgets. Unlike the previous year, which was centered around app and scope development for Ubuntu Touch, this year, it expanded to other various IoT devices.
IoT or Internet of Things is a category of devices that includes basically anything that can connect to the Internet, like a router or a funny little robot. We already wrote about MrRobot, which was put together during this Hackathon and which uses Ubuntu Touch apps.
The entire Ubuntu ecosystem is coming together, and very soon, there won't be any differences between Ubuntu Touch or Ubuntu Snappy Core, which is currently being used for IoT devices. The fact that developers were able to use something like Ubuntu Touch together with a robot is proof that it's happening very fast.
Hackathons are powerful means of promoting development
When just a few guys manage to produce quality code in a matter of days, it becomes clear that the platform is open enough for more people to do it. In fact, it's quite possible that the apps that are developed today for Ubuntu Touch will probably work tomorrow on Ubuntu desktops.
“The second in a series of Chinese developer hackathons took place last weekend (22nd and 23rd August) in Shenzhen. Once again there was an overwhelming positive response, with over 170 people signing up online for the pre-hackathon and 30 people turning up onsite. Over the course of this 30+ hour hackathon, seven different teams formed and presented their work through a series of demo sessions,” reads the blog entry.
The Chinese developer Hackathon in Shenzhen has been deemed a success, and it's very likely that it will be organized next year as well.