Baptiste-Queru Leaves AOSP over Nexus 7 Factory Images Issues with Qualcomm; Petition

[dgstorm]

A loud ruckus surrounding the factory images for the new Nexus 7 has just developed over the past day or so. The source of the issue stems from Qualcomm licensing issues. Apparently Qualcomm some custom code embedded in their new chips in the next generation Nexus 7, and they are unwilling/unable to work out some type of arrangement with Google so that Google's AOSP initiative can release the factory images. This resulted in quite a bit of drama.

First, the famed AOSP developer Jean Baptiste-Queru has quit the AOSP in disgust over the whole issue. He is frustrated because he was being blamed for the issue, even though it is completely out of his hands to control. Here's a quote from him on the subject,

Well, I see that people have figured out why I’m quitting AOSP.

There’s no point being the maintainer of an Operating System that can’t boot to the home screen on its flagship device for lack of GPU support, especially when I’m getting the blame for something that I don’t have authority to fix myself and that I had anticipated and escalated more than 6 months ahead.

Who wouldn't want to give up when faced with such a "catch 22" situation? Of course, that isn't the end of it. A petition has been put up on Change.org directed at the CEO of Qualcomm. Its sole purpose is to get the issue resolved by allowing the factory images to be published. If it works, hopefully it might also bring Jean Baptiste-Queru back to the AOSP. Here's a quote from the petition, followed by a link in case you want to sign your name to it,

Please allow Google to release the factory images of Android devices using Qualcomm CPU’s and GPU’s to the Android Open Source Project. It is a large inconvenience to developers and programmers worldwide trying to improve the experience of Android, while the factory images are locked down, due to legal issues with a few proprietary GPU binaries.

It's funny how software patents create such a huge headache, even when it's not about someone getting sued.

Source: Change.org

 

[edap]

Yesterday, brought great news regarding the new Nexus 7 and it’s future with support from the Android open source community; the factory image and binaries were released by Google. This happened for the new Nexus 7 much sooner than expected by me anyway. If was only a few days ago that we found out that Google’s Android open source manager, Jean-Baptiste Quéru (JBQ), would be quitting his due to frustrations with legal issues with making the new Nexus 7′s factory image and binaries available. Nevertheless, we have them now. We don’t have any news at this time regarding JBQ and if the release of these files are enough to convince him to stay. Regardless, we really appreciate what he’s been able to do for our Android community.

 

[vampirefo.]

Why doesn't google use Tegra? Sometimes google has to show how dump rich people are.

Sent from my SPH-D710 Android Phone