Google Glass kernel GPL source | Hacker News Reader

Google Glass kernel GPL source

code.google.com

111 pointsricket30 comments

The git repository is empty. The actual source is available at https://code.google.com/p/google-glass-kernel-source/downloa...

kernel-glass-XE04.0-RC06.tar.xz 65.7 MB

SHA1 Checksum: 555661ff568a0d89de213ea0c32915cd908cc582

Are you sure it's not because the default branch is empty? It's a design choice [1] for all the other Android kernel images.

[1] : https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/android-bu...

This project is just so you have a place to download the .tar.xz file for now.

The repository is indeed empty -- no branches, no nothing.

Unfortunately this is where most companies kernel pushes end (just the tarball w/ nothing else).

It won't. It will end up in AOSP when JBQ gets back. Due to some human scheduling snafus on my part, this didn't get done before he went on vacation. I simply don't know JBQ's exact method of doing git kernel pushes to AOSP, and i'm not going to possibly mess up the entire AOSP kernel tree to learn :).

Just to update this, the kernel should now be in AOSP on the "glass-omap-xrr02" branch of the kernel/omap project.

Yes, it will get pushed to AOSP when JBQ gets back. I hid the source tab for now.

Does Glass required proprietary binary blobs to be combined with the GPL source like the Nexus devices (pinning you to a narrow range of kernel versions), or is it actually open through and through?

AFAIK the glasses crippleware (as in TiVo), so it doesn't realy matter if free or not.

Could you elaborate? I have no idea what you're referencing.

Probably this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization

Yes, exactly. I'm confused why i get downvotes. HN seemed to be very spare with downvotes, but it seems to be overrun by google fanboys.

Ah, I see.

I guess I will point out that this doesn't seem to be the case. As we see from this very post the kernel sources are released, and from the earlier posts we know Glass can be unlocked with the standard Nexus style 'fastboot oem unlock', so Glass (at least through Google, who knows what other OEMs might do) will be as open as Nexus phones from what we can tell.

I don't know specifically about the drivers in Glass but it's based on the pretty old TI OMAP4 platform which was in the Galaxy Nexus, and I think out of the SoC manufacturers TI is (well, was, since they stopped making OMAP) the most open by far.

They'll be IMGTec blobs for the SGX GPU then

edit/clarification: These won't be blobs in the kernel but they'll be IMGTec binary libraries. So in practice it's slightly less annoying for kernel hacking.

Right, the PVR driver kernel component is GPL. It's the userspace that is proprietary.

Hope someone can clarify, I'm new at this.

Does this mean that you can take this kernel source, modify it and/or add extensions, and then deploy it on your google glass?

anyone?

It wont boot without drivers for various pieces of the hardware, drivers that are developed by third parties and that are most likely closed source. Those drivers may be released at a later time as 'binary blobs'.

Why wouldn't this be on android.kernel.org?

Googler here. It will be with AOSP soon, but there was some confusion getting that done. We did this as a temporary measure; didn't want to delay getting GPL compliant.

Thank you for responding here!

See above comment :)

WTF is stopping from releasing it as GPLv3 license

The fact that Linux is licensed as GPLv2?

From the tarball COPYING file: "the only valid version of the GPL as far as the kernel is concerned is _this_ particular version of the license (ie v2, not v2.2 or v3.x or whatever), unless explicitly otherwise stated. -Linus Torvalds"

Which is identical to kernel.org: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/COPYING

That section was discussed at https://lkml.org/lkml/2006/1/25/273 where 2006-Linus doesn't see GPLv3 ever happening.

If this doesn't illustrate it I don't know what would-- just because it runs open source does not mean it's open.

Care to elaborate on that? I'm a little confused on the wording.

Just someone who loves to bash Google.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization

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