Database Users

The state of Android homebrew.

When the G1 came out it was the only Android powered device so modding it worked for everybody. And it was just one brand, HTC, so this forum was a one stop destination for modding our phone.
However, things have changed, now there are multiple phone with incompatible hardware from different manufacturers. Now a custom rom made for the G1, won't work on a DROID for example and vise versa. This complicates things quite a bit.
Right now Cyanogen mods are the best thing for our G1 and maybe the best thing for Android as a whole. I'm used to the build in tether capability and apps to SD and compcace and the other perks of a modded rom. But if I wanted to upgrade my phone, I would lose it all.
There are no Cyanogen mod for anything other than G1 and myTouch phones as far as I know and if I were to upgrade to DROID, I would lose root, lose tether, lose apps to SD, lose everything about my phone that makes it my phone.
Everything I wrote may not be facts, I don't really know what goes on at other forums, but I know that we don't have roms build to run on the DROID and we don't have them built to run on the HERO hardware, it's all for G1 and myTouch, and it seems to me that if I don't ha.ve on of those phones, I lose everything.
I do understand that this forum is for HTC devices which DROID and a few other's are not which is why I don't see homebrew for them. Is there a another website similar to this that supports all Android hardware?
These are thoughts that have been running through my head lately. If I am totally wrong here, please let me know.

I would say check out websites such as androidcommunity.com, androidandme.com, phandroid.com. The developers might not be on there but you can probably find links to where there are custom roms for the phones.
And you are right about different phones having different development oppurtunities. I thought about this today and realized that the next android phone I get not only has to be what I want but also be a popular phone that will attract developers such as cyan, maxisma, jac, manup and everyone else. My best guess and hope is that it will be a snapdragon android handset, hopefully for T-Mobile USA.

What we'll end up having to do is pick our phones based on it's community support and what kind of home brew is available for it.

The reason I love the G1 is the fact that it's rooted and has a large community. This phone is the best on the market, all things considered, because the rooted OS allows so much.
If and when the Droid is rooted, when a GSM version is released, and when it has T-Mo's 3G bands, I will move to it. But all those may not happen for another year or more. If you haven't played with a Droid yet, do so. Incredible speed and the best screen I have ever seen on a phone. Till then, G1 all the way.

The man is right, we have a problem on the dev side.
I think though, once 2.0 gets standard, we'll only need root for a few things like tethering and setting the CPU clock. Really cyanogen's only advantage is optimization, but once 2.0 and snapdragon rolls around, who cares? We'll always want to tinker, but it won't eclipse getting the phone you want.
The big problems right now are that the market isn't getting what it needs. Nothing compares to the HTC widgets, yet instead of cloning them on the market, we try and run a ROM that doesn't even work on our phones! We still don't have BT in Hero and it may just never happen.
2.0 will be what we need as a base, but the market needs our help now.

I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
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Click to collapse
Thanks but this thread is not about who has the best rom.
The point is, when you get a new Android phone, your rom of choice won't be available for it. So what do you do?

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we all get it already, YOU are dwang's biggest fan
But, to stay on topic. My G1 is the first HTC device I've ever owned and I've only discovered XDA since I've had it, and I think that because of the community involvement here and the custom roms that have come out, I will definitely lean towards another HTC phone when I look for my next upgrade, and it will definately be an android phone.
Also another thing to look at is the availability of the phones that are out to actual dev's. Unless people are donating phones, I doubt everyone can just run out and pick up all the latest devices, and network restrictions/preferences that come along with them.

I think the easiest solution is as follows:
1. Find the dev you like best.
2. Find the phone you like best.
3. Buy phone you like best.
4. Buy/Create a donate link to get said dev the same phone.
Assuming said dev doesnt turn around and craigslist the phone you bought him/her, you have (hopefully) ensured said dev will migrate and develop on your favorite hardware.
Not the best solution but probably the most reliable.

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
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Click to collapse
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.

cyanogen said:
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
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Click to collapse
For real.
Alec, you're like the little annoying brother that no one wants to be around.
Grow up, let your balls drop, and enjoy your phone, your life, and whatever rom you want.
But, you don't have to go around dissing well-respected devs.

The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
dwang said:
I want to acknowledge cyanogen, daproy, cyrowski, loccy, and alla for their contributions to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.

AthlonBoy said:
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?

Pinesal said:
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beats me, man. I'm not a developer. But I think it's unlikely.

For the DROID (and other/future android phones) is Apps2SD really necessary? The only reason why we need it on our phones is because of the pathetic amount of internal space the G1 has, the same goes for Swap Partitions etc.
As long as people buy the phone there is always going to be someone who is smart enough to work on rooting it IMO. And even without root what do you really lose? The only things I think I would really miss are Wireless Tether and Bluetooth File Transfer (Which I THINK is in 2.0 anyway).

I'm not buying a new phone until it's rooted and Cyanogen has it too.

My biggest requirement for any android phone..and any cell phone in general is the keyboard. I bought the G1 because of the keyboard and lucked out with the high number of developers available for it. I didn't find this place for several months during the time when the grandfather of the G1 mod program was still active =) JF!. I enjoyed all the modding and updating because I personally feel that the phone is, well mine. And I should be able to do what ever I want with it. I had picked up the V3C Razer because it could play MP3's. I get it home and then discover that the Verizon Nazi's completely locked down that feature so you where forced to use their service at an additional cost. Of course the motorola dev/repair/store software allowed us to get in a enable the various features that Verizon required to be locked. I also love the Aps2sd. No matter what phone you have, the internal memory will never be enough. And with the Cliq supporting 32gig sd cards, a full keyboard, and NOT verizon was enough for me. I'm patient and confident it will be rooted eventually. If not, I still have my G1 and I still do Cyanogen updates and play around with it. And when my contract is up with Tmob(renewed for the Cliq), I'll see who has the next most popular rooted phone with a keyboard and switch over. I just really hate people telling me how to use a device I own. Its like going to McDonalds and having them dictate what condiments to put on my BigMac and Fries, and then telling me I can only eat it a certain way and which hand to use. If Cyanogen was down with the Cliq, or interested in it. I may be willing to ship him my phone to see what he can come up with.
As far as a universal O/S for all phones, isn't that just the core Android software with specific drivers provided by each manufacturer and custom UI? There should be a way to make 1 O/S for all android phones, then have update packs with the drivers and UI enhancements and add-ons for each android phone released? Not sure of the SPL locks though. Thats a bit beyond me. But i wouldn't think it would be to hard to run Cyanogen on the Cliq or droid provided the correct drivers and such where bundled with it. Kind of like slipstreaming a service pack into a bootleg Windows OS . Each phone eventually has to release the source code which contains the drivers for that phone. Thats how we get the Cliq's OS onto the G1, should work the other way around too. Sounds easy, but Cyanogen's Rom should run on my Cliq, provided the drivers are slipstreamed into it for the Cliq...right? Only problem is root.. :/ hehehe

and there he flames again...alec.baldwin, no one has the problems you have with cyanogen's latest. actually, lets delve into this...what exactly are your "problems" with 4.2.5? PLEASE, answer this question so cyanogen can dutifully fix the "problems" you are having.
You might check out some of the Q/A threads to first learn how to properly flash cyanogen's ROM. It is slightly different than Dwang's because Cyanogen uses the legal method. In fact, check out www.cyanogenmod.com and you might find a ton of useful info on getting cm to work on your phone.
Best of Luck,
njuncos
P.S. Cyanogen, mad props on once again reaching over a million thread views on your latest. Now you own 3 of the top 4 most viewed threads of all time in Dream Android Development!

Should I return the MyTouch 1.2?

I just switch from a Nokia N900 to a MyTouch because I wanted a simple Android phone I could root and run wifi tether for root users on to give an Ipad wi/fi net access when away from hotspots.
Turns out, the MyTouch (1.2) has recently been updated and what I got instead was a phone that took a lot of work to root for little gain--the wifi tether won't run and barnacle tether gets about 6kb/s at best. I'm running a decent rom right now, but the lack of wifi-tether is killing the experience for me.
I've still got time to return this phone, and I'm wondering if there's even a possibility that this phone will ever get a kernel with netfilter. Anyone know?
Other questions:
What other phones are options? Should I go back to a G1, the N900 (which can, with some work, serve as a wifi hotspot), or possibly stretch for a nexus one? Can either of the cliq models be rooted to run wifi-tether? I'm with Tmobile USA by the way.
Any responses would be helpful. Thanks.

yes you should if you cant wait for there to be more attention on this phone.

i would get the mytouch slide(if it gets tether) or nexus one

Driving in a 3G area right now, and my little my touch 1.2 is barnacle tethered to my iPad, providing 200kb/s for this browsing, while google navigating our route and playing music through the stereo. Forget a nexus one, this capable little phone can handle everything I need it to with ease.I'll be keeping it.

I switched back to my 1.2 from a 32B MT recently as well, trust me this thing is getting some good attention right now(~8 new recent roms, granted most of them minus the CM prot have a lot of work needed).

Root or No Root

Hey guys, I have been using smart phones for a while and usually get around great without rooting. I had the HTC Dream back in the day and couldnt use it without rooting, lol. I am upgrading from the G1 which has met the end of the road for me. What are the benefits of rooting? With the Vibrant which I will finally have on Tuesday, is it necessary? And if it is HIGHLY recommended, how do I go about rooting it?

i would say root it cause its really easy takes not even 5 minutes seriously lol but i would also root it cause there is lots of bloatware on this thing so many apps that arent needed

I am not generally a rooter but this one seemed so easy (and it is) that I did it.
I didn't root the phone to dig into the files, I did it just so I could install stuff that I couldn't otherwise install. It bugged me to see a cool app and then read "YOU MUST HAVE ROOT ACCESS". That's not a problem anymore.
You certainly don't lose anything by rooting so I would say go for it.

Any other disadvantages/advantages

really there are no disadvantages accept maybe warranty but i think theres a way to unroot so no probs but once everything starts picking up there will be way more advantages than disadvantages

Besides the fact of removing awful apps (Bloatware), you can use your phone to tether. Also you can use an app called SetCPU to overclock your processor to actaully use your 1GHZ processor which speeds your phone up, along with a ton of other root apps. Youll be able to flash custom ROMS, flash themes, etc. Not sure if there is a volume hack for the vibrant yet, but that has been a reason for past rooted phones as well.
I highly recommend it...

AdFree Android removes nearly all ads from websites and apps

reasons to root
1. Use apps that require root access (such as Titanium Backup and Drocap2)
2. Remove preloaded bloatware (who needs TeleNav when Google Maps Navigation is totally free?)
3. Full access to filesystem (useful for developers and general tinkerers)
reasons not to root
1. Always involves some risk (however small) of irreversibly damaging your device
2. Could void warranty or official support
3. Makes it easier for you to accidentally mess up your system.

I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.

ryan562 said:
I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.

Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help

Hmm, still debating on rooting. Waiting for my Froyo update. Plus I want to port my Harley-Davidson theme I made for my G1 to Vibrant. Hopefully they don't use those CRAMS files on Vibrant, cause that is when I had to stop themeing my G1. CRAMS was too difficult to mess with. Is the signing file method gonna be the same as G1, or is there a different testsign file? Plus I hope to see my stock file, plus a thinned down, less bloatware file, and themeing templates. So many factors to consider.

I say ROOT! I've never rooted a phone till this one. I just couldn't stand all the bloatware that was in this phone. They just had to be removed. Now all I'm waiting for are some sick ass ROMs I've seen done for other devices to hit this one. I'm sure I'll need help doing so, but this community has been fantastic when help is needed.
Plus side for me is that I also have a 3 week old New still in the box Nexus One as a backup phone in case I screw this one up.

I rooted mine because people kept saying you could tether, but none of the tethering apps actually WORK. They install fine, and Wireless-Tethering says it's working, but the access point never shows up. And Wired-Tethering says the kernel isn't compatible.
So I'd like to hear from any rooted users who actually got them working AND successfully tethered a laptop with it.

talltexan said:
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if there's any delay on the froyo update, i'd blame it on samsung

I was hoping not to have to root the phone so soon - especially until I could reset it back and a recover like Amon's is available, but after a glorious couple of days of honeymoon, the lags are just killing the experience for me. And I don't think I have a choice now, but to root. I'll try a general reset and see if it works. I have another Vibrant that seems to be only slightly laggy. But I have to return that one and keep the problematic one :-(
Even moving icons on the desktop now takes almost 2 second. Linpack still clocks at 8.5. No problem at all playing a video - just OS operations. The camera froze for 5 minutes and I finally had to just restart the phone. Restarting the phone is not painful on this device though. Very fast.

At this time so early in Vibrant development.. it honestly doesn't really make much of a difference if you root early or root later. Just enjoy the phone for what it is as of right now until the modding community becomes settled in. Just be aware if there are any incoming OTAs if you are unrooted to make sure that the OTA didn't do anything that would change the rooting process.
- Recovery (ability to flash custom ROMs) is in the making
- Custom ROM developers -- in the makes soon
So here's the question. Should I go ahead and invest on a Vibrant (but work for it will begin when I get the Slide done) cont... about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep
If I keep getting the donations I am now, I can get the laptop along with the Vibrant, just considering the Vibrant first ...cont about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep -WesGarner
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Click to collapse
I would personally go ahead and root it to unlock some essential applications and it takes <1 minute to do and its pretty simple. But there isn't any rush to root it now or later.. not at least CyanogenMod6 (Android 2.2) gets released for this beastly phone to have JIT.

nm found it

N8QDogg said:
Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the root method given so far, I think the only thing you have to do to unroot it is to remove Superuser Permissions. That's the only thing that the root procedure added to the phone.

I'm rooting my phone when I get it, just because to me (at least) it is a part of the true android experience. I'm just geek enough to like to play with my equipment! Hurry up T-Mobile!!!

[Q] Switching from the iPhone 4 to Droid X

Hey everybody, I'm switching to an iPhone 4 to the Droid X within a matter of weeks now. That being said, I am a VERY experience user of iOS and even got Android on my old iTouch. Every iDevice I have owned has been jailbroken and heavily used. However, I believe it is time to switch to the Droid X. It has a much bigger screen, much more speed, and a more reliable network. Now to the good stuff - I have been following several threads on the Droid X about the "ROMS" . I do love the Vanilla Android look and would definetely want to put that on my upcoming Droid X. Does anyone know of a good instruction guide to get that properly set-up and working for noobies? Thanks to everybody, looking forward to making the big switch!

there is a good tutorial over on droidxforums.com for root/roms/backup in the hacks section

Welcome aboard. I too dumped my iPhone 4 after six months and now have the Droid X. I cleared some good resale value, and couldn't be happier. If you haven't sold it yet I would suggest checking out www.wennecorp.com, they were easy to deal with and a legit buyer.

Z4root will get you rooted (free in market) and Rom Manager will get you familiar with roms. You will also need bootstrap recovery to get started flashing. Google it. Steer clear of the leaked 2.2.1 flash for now. There is no full SBF to recover if things go wrong. Once the full SBF is available, it's no big deal. Use Rom Manager to back up before each and every flash. This will save you alot of headache.You will always have something stable to go back to if things go bad, unless you upgrade bootloader. Once you upgrade bootloader, old backups are useless. Another reason to stay away from the leak for now.

thanks for the suggestion bro

Barkleyfan said:
Z4root will get you rooted (free in market) and Rom Manager will get you familiar with roms. You will also need bootstrap recovery to get started flashing. Google it. Steer clear of the leaked 2.2.1 flash for now. There is no full SBF to recover if things go wrong. Once the full SBF is available, it's no big deal. Use Rom Manager to back up before each and every flash. This will save you alot of headache.You will always have something stable to go back to if things go bad, unless you upgrade bootloader. Once you upgrade bootloader, old backups are useless. Another reason to stay away from the leak for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks so much for the explanation man. the iphone 4 is pretty simple to hack with the new jailbreaks and such ahah. it will be fun playing witht he droid x tho. thanks again . i will search a bit more

[Q] New DX - Root?

Hey Everyone,
I lost my old Eris and getting a Droid X today. I rooted and overclocked my Eris because it was so slow. My question is it worth Rooting a DX? It will be so much faster than my old phone and not sure if its worth risking the warranty on it. Any advice would be appreciated.
I'm guessing I can run CyangenMOD on a DX, overclock it, etc...
Thanks

CM is in a pretty early beta for the DX right now. Haven't been keeping up with what is working and what isn't, but it's supposed to be pretty stable overall.
I've been messing around with overclocking the past few days, but you are right that the phone is pretty fast on it's own. Milestone overclock + SetCPU for profiles.
I've been having stability issues, heat issues, and random reboots. But the troubleshooting and tweaking is what I love about android.
If your on GB already you won't be able to root right away. You'll need to sbf back to froyo and follow one of the stickie tutorials from there.
Good luck.

I think it is worth it cm4dx is amazing work and a great acoplisment by cvpcs. Also if you have trouble rooting one app has always worked for me and that superoneclick if I have that right, just fyi, I had trouble rooting mine with z4root etc.

Well there are several things to read before rooting. The best thing would probably to go to the top of this section (Droid X General) and read the "noob to Droid x" topic, since it has a HUGE HUGE amount of info on rooting, deodexing, etc.
One of the MAIN reasons why people root is to get new roms: mainly because of skins/crap-apps that default on device which cause it to slow down, side loaded apps: such as wireless tethering apps which usually cost $30 a month for FREE, or maybe backup apps like Titanium backup which saves a backup of all your apps + their data to your sdcard incase something goes wrong / up update to a new rom.
People just like to customize their phones to THEIR fancy, not to what a manufacturer tells you is "awesome".
Hope this helps!