Re:Raspberry Pi Opens First High Street Store in Cambridge
by gjsman-1000 on Thursday February 07, 2019 @05:33PM
(#19109307)
Not really. To be fair, all modern GPUs are closed-source and the Raspberry Pi actually has the only mobile GPU with some public documentation. Sure, there are open-source implementations of Mali and other GPUs, but they just don't work well. Unlike many knockoff boards, you can build the proprietary blob into your code and get great performance (see Kodi or VLC, which can play 1080p30 and has a very smooth UI on the Pi).
As for closed source schematics, it doesn't really matter because there is no way to purchase the processor powering the Pi yourself. Some clone manufacturer tried to buy the BCM2835 in like 2014, but Broadcom had a 100,000 order minimum, and so the clone manufacturer just couldn't afford it. So, schematics aren't really useful.
Finally, a HUGE reason why the graphics software is closed-source inside the GPU is legal issues. The GPU contains dedicated video decode/encode blocks which have patents which require licensing. RPi gets around this by keeping the GPU closed source and selling MP2/VC1 decode licenses. If the Raspberry Pi foundation distributed open-source GPU software which could use those decoding blocks, they would be underwater with lawsuits from multiple patent bodies.
As for closed source schematics, it doesn't really matter because there is no way to purchase the processor powering the Pi yourself. Some clone manufacturer tried to buy the BCM2835 in like 2014, but Broadcom had a 100,000 order minimum, and so the clone manufacturer just couldn't afford it. So, schematics aren't really useful.
Finally, a HUGE reason why the graphics software is closed-source inside the GPU is legal issues. The GPU contains dedicated video decode/encode blocks which have patents which require licensing. RPi gets around this by keeping the GPU closed source and selling MP2/VC1 decode licenses. If the Raspberry Pi foundation distributed open-source GPU software which could use those decoding blocks, they would be underwater with lawsuits from multiple patent bodies.