nokia open source drivers

nokia open source drivers

Posted Oct 17, 2007 22:19 UTC (Wed) by undefined (guest, #40876)
In reply to: New Nokia Linux tablet packs slideout keyboard (LinuxDevices.com) by leoc
Parent article: New Nokia Linux tablet packs slideout keyboard (LinuxDevices.com)

i don't know specifically about the n8[01]0, but see this lwn article response about the 770's
closed source drivers.

http://lwn.net/Articles/229838/

specifically see daniel stone's (daniels) comments as he is employed by nokia to support the
tablet hardware (in the know), but is a part of the free software community (tells it
straight, imo).

there's also the concern that the maemo software platform is (partially) closed source (though
opening more as time passes), but penguinbait has gotten both xfce and kde running on the
device, which i don't believe require the closed source bits.

i own a 770, and while it may have been official abandoned by nokia, it's still supported by
the community (of which nokia and/or its employees are part): microb for 770, os2007 hacker
edition, etc.

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I asked a similar question a couple of months ago, and the answer that I got was that there
are a couple drivers related to power management that are closed. I wasn't able to confirm
this (and have held off buying one as a result)

IIRC the boot loader is non-free, and the userspace daemon that monitors the battery charge is
non-free.  I don't remember if the wifi driver needs a binary blob or not.

that doesn't sound bad. I'm willing to live with non-free userspace tools, and if the binary
blob for the wifi is for the firmware of the card (as opposed to the driver) I'm fine.

the bootloader could be an issue, but I'd have to see what options there are (and what
capabilities the bootloader has. as long as it can boot my own kernels I don't have heartburn
with the concept)