Coz we don't want to pay for licensing
> and what’s in it for you
The fun of porting and/or testing everything! Aren't you happy ?
Oh, and we will not upstream our drivers as usual so your devices will be landfill after 4 years as usual
Then the ISA is an open standard... it only needs to be done once, and it doesn't matter who it is that gets it done.
This is not genuine argument. Check the sources at kernel.org and you will see tons of Qualcomm drivers upstreamed by Qualcomm.
Did Qualcomm do a bad job w upstreaming, for years? yes, they did. Are they improving? yes, IMO they are.
disclaimer: Qualcomm employee.
"Linux 6.2 Expands Support For More Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs, Apple M1 Pro/Ultra/Max"
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.2-Arm-SoC-Updates
"Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Patches Already Surfacing For The Linux Kernel" https://www.phoronix.com/news/Snapdragon-8-Gen-2-Linux
"Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Sees Timely Support With The Mainline Linux 5.17 Kernel"
This talk is a great overview of where things are going...
Stock android? Yes, perhaps. Some functionality from devices is provided via closed firmware blobs that you'll need too. I'm thinking of the modem or other DSPs at least. However I suppose that projects like LineageOS just harvest those from working phones?
I know one developer at Qualcomm who uses Linux on their Snapdragon laptop.
IMO the blobs aren't very objectionable while still not ideal. Would I prefer to have the source to software running on all the peripherals? Sure, I would. But once you're programming on the peripherals it narrows significantly the audience who's interested and capable at changing behavior or making fixes.
I could be wrong but I think this is actually somewhat common.
> Oh, and we will not upstream our drivers as usual so your devices will be landfill after 4 years as usual
C'mon, it won't be that similar to ARM.