Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by joeyo on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @05:50PM
(#2117759)
> Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for
> Froyo which are needed by the CM team to get CM7 running
> on the Galaxy S devices
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by metachris on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @10:32PM
(#2118457)
Just developing GPL software for a certain part of an embedded system doesn't necessarily require all other hardware parts to be GPL'ed as well, just as your BIOS being proprietary doesn't violate the GPL if you're running Linux.
Would be great to see a fully open-source phone some day. I believe OpenMoko was striving for this goal, too.
Not if it's a driver.
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by krakensden on Wednesday January 19, 2011 @12:04AM
(#2118705)
You mean, not if it's a driver with a GPL-compatible shim (a la nVidia).
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by joeyo on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @08:23PM
(#2118165)
Good point.
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by drivebyacct2 on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @07:32PM
(#2118053)
Part of the problem is that they haven't shipped Froyo officially. But yes, manufacturers, even HTC, have been up to 6 months late delivering code as required via GPL.
If Samsung release full source to their Eclair port, the community would be happy to forward-port the drivers to Froyo. But without source they can't.
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by drivebyacct2 on Wednesday January 19, 2011 @01:31AM
(#2118921)
Are we missing even Eclair source? I know Froyo and GB have changed things enough with some of the drivers that forward porting has been harder than expected... but if Eclair's source is missing, it seems the proper response is some sort of campaign to get Samsung in gear. I do think that HTC responded to GPL complaints when they had held out so long on releasing their kernel mods.
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by wmf on Wednesday January 19, 2011 @02:48PM
(#2120989)
As I said elsewhere in the thread, vendors don't have to release source for drivers (kernel modules); AFAIK every Android phone uses proprietary GPU drivers at least. So even if a vendor released all the source that they're required to release, that may not be enough to create a custom ROM with a future version of Android.
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by machrider on Wednesday January 19, 2011 @04:19AM
(#2119246)
This story was the one that broke the camel's back for me, in terms of waiting for Samsung/T-Mobile to ship a 2.2 update for the Vibrant. I dug around and found "Eugene's Ginger Clone" 2.2 ROM and installed it yesterday. My Vibrant is noticeably snappier, battery is lasting longer, and it's now devoid of bloatware.
Latest release announcement here: http://eb-productions.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=samsungs...
Video overview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKsiH0wWgg
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by rufugee on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @07:45PM
(#2118082)
Really? Does this howto (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Compile_Cyanogen...) not get CM7 running on the Vibrant?
Re:Why U.S. Galaxy S Phones run Android 2.1
by drivebyacct2 on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @09:14PM
(#2118274)
* THIS HOWTO HAS NOT BEEN TESTED YET *
But yes, I think someone is hacking on the Vibrant, but last I asked in #cyanogen or #koush, I was told that no one wanted to work on the S-G-S phones until more source was released by Samsung.
Also, that guide follows the same template as all their other build guides. If it works, I'm impressed, but I suspect it is a preliminary copy/paste job waiting to be filled in or expanded upon.
Then stop locking the bootloader and let me put the latest version of CM on my phone. I'm not going to buy Motorola and I'm not going to buy Samsung. Samsung won't release their kernel modifications for Froyo which are needed by the CM team to get CM7 running on the Galaxy S devices... Motorola is keeping the bootloader (and thus kernel) on their phones restricted. They're also not even close to timely on their updates. My D1 is running Gingerbread fairly stably, especially considering it's ONE maintainer disappeared two weeks ago due to personal financial concerns. OTOH, only one device is running GB from the manufacturer/carrier and that is Google's own phone.
Let me use my damn phone, I'll take care of the updates. I don't know how much simpler we can make installing CM7 and I know there are some/many/random-number people who have gone CM just to get the latest Android version.