[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] Re: Getting scratchbox CPU transparency working on the n770

[From: Charles 'Buck' Krasic]

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My understanding is that it is not legal to redistribute the
binary-only Nokia stuff.    I base this on my read of the
click-through license on http://www.maemo.org/downloads/d2.php, it
quite appears clear to me that copying and redistribution are not
allowed (I am not a lawyer and I do not work for Nokia).

On the other hand, there is ample information about creating custom
images on the maemo website, much of it provided by Nokia.    This
could be an indication that Nokia are at least open to the idea.  
Using at least some of the non-redistributable binary components would
be necessary to make any custom image usable in any general sense
(e.g. to use wifi).    It would be interesting to get clarification
from Nokia on this.   I would suspect anyone who wants to deploy a
custom solution based on the 770 would need to negotiate individually
with Nokia to get permission for the binaries.

Another approach to get at customized devices would be to write a
script that starts from a device initialize to a stock image, and then
both installs new code, and removes unwanted components.     It's
probably more hassle from a development, but maybe less pain than
dealing with the lawyers.  :)

The overall situation between open and closed is quite mixed on the
770.   Some details of how sound related stuff on the 770 work are out
there, but scattered somewhat between the maemo website, mailing
lists, etc.      Perhaps the most salient information is as follows.    

The hardware side of audio is quite unconventional in the sense that
it does not have a traditional separate sound chip, but instead uses
the DSP in the OMAP processor to do most audio work.   The lowest
level details of this are handled by DSP code written by Nokia, and
released in binary only (non-redistributable) fashion.     My
impression is that the licensing terms of this DSP code is unlikely to
change anytime soon.    This is certainly limiting for certain people
interested in driver like development; e.g. there seems to be a lot of
pent up frustration about the lack of bluetooth headset support, and
this is one area where the lack of information about the DSP and
hardware side of things in general makes it virtually impossible for
anyone but Nokia to come up with a solution.

On the brighter side, the ARM/Linux side of the sound software has
undergone several transitions through the sequence of releases of the
maemo platform.   The most recent scirroco release is notable because
it appears that most (all?) of the "linux-side" gstreamer code
relating to the DSP has become open source.   There has been and still
is virtually no documentation to the 770 specific gstreamer elements,
so the source code release is a major boon (thanks Nokia!).

- -- Buck


Arno Onken wrote:
> Thanks for the quick reply! :)
>
> Yes, the wlan driver comes with the rootfs and so you can get sound
> working by using binary files from the production image. But the
> question was actually more about license issues, the freedom of the
> software. Is it binary only or is the source available? Can you use it
> for any purpose? And can you copy and redistribute (modfied) versions?
>
> Arno
>
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