Seigo: The reveal [LWN.net]

KDE developer Aaron Seigo writes about the "Spark", an upcoming unlocked €200 tablet that runs the KDE Plasma Active system. "This is more than just another piece of hardware on the market, though. This is a unique opportunity for Free software. Finally we have a device coming to market on our terms. It has been designed by and is usable by us on our terms. We are not waiting for some big company to give us what we desire, we're going out there and making it happen together. Just as important: the proceeds will be helping fuel the efforts that make this all possible."

to post comments

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 29, 2012 20:05 UTC (Sun) by arjan (subscriber, #36785) [Link] (3 responses)

hmm if this is so great for Free Software.. .where's the graphics driver on our terms ?
Can I run any kernel and any X version i want on this ?

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 2:24 UTC (Mon) by jmalcolm (subscriber, #8876) [Link] (1 responses)

According to the article, "The hardware is modest but compelling: 1GHz AMLogic ARM processor, Mali-400 GPU, 512 MB RAM, 4GB internal storage plus SD card slot, a 7" capacitive multi-touch screen and wifi connectivity."

It looks like a GPLv2 driver for the Mali-400 may be on the way:

https://gitorious.org/lima

Luc Verhaegen on free mali driver at FOSDEM

Posted Jan 30, 2012 9:41 UTC (Mon) by MarkVandenBorre (subscriber, #26071) [Link]

http://fosdem.org/2012/schedule/event/mali

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 17:24 UTC (Mon) by shmerl (guest, #65921) [Link]

It's running on the Mer Core, so I assume you can build your own Linux stack for it, reusing the drivers.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 29, 2012 20:06 UTC (Sun) by svena (guest, #20177) [Link] (3 responses)

Interesting, especially now that there's a free driver for the Mali GPU. Would be good to know how the rest of the hardware stands when it comes to blobs and firmware.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 29, 2012 21:43 UTC (Sun) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link] (2 responses)

The following is based on an examination of the ZT280-C71, which looks identical from the outside and is plausibly the same platform. Zenithink haven't provided any source code, but since there's no reason to believe that Zenithink are the OEM there's no reason to assume that the Spark will also be missing it.

It looks like an Amlogic 8726m device, so it's a fairly generic single core ARM with a Mali 400 GPU (no open driver yet, but we'll see how Luc's work progresses). Wifi is an RTL8192C, which has an open driver but appears to require closed firmware. I haven't found a driver for the camera, but Amlogic appear to supply full kernel source for the other AV components - there's a huge pile of firmware for the dsp in order to enable accelerated media decoding. Touchscreen seems to be an FT5406.

So, other than the GPU and (potentially) the camera, I'd certainly expect full source for everything running on the host processor. Device firmware will certainly be present.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 15:22 UTC (Mon) by hitmark (guest, #34609) [Link] (1 responses)

If this thing gains interest, i suspect someone will hack together something for the camera in short order. Most likely it is hooked into the SoC via USB.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 15:28 UTC (Mon) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]

Doubt it's USB on a device like this, but yeah, it's not going to be much of a problem even if there isn't source - and, like I said, there's no reason to believe that there won't be.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 10:14 UTC (Mon) by Felix.Braun (guest, #3032) [Link] (1 responses)

Is there any possibility of providing our esteemed editor with a review sample, so that the rest of us could base our purchasing decision on the level of grumpiness he shows in his review? Mainstream media usually don't value the possibility of installing a vanilla kernel quite as much as we do.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 17:14 UTC (Mon) by dashesy (guest, #74652) [Link]

Yes, that would be great.
I still prefer a desktop/laptop for myself, but I will happily buy one of these for my wife, dual boot it and do my experiments in there.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 20:42 UTC (Mon) by nhasan (guest, #1699) [Link]

http://www.shopono.com/products/Zenithink-ZT280-C71-7-Inc...
$129.00 + Free shipping (Android pre-installed)

The vendor is based in China so buyer beware.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 30, 2012 23:39 UTC (Mon) by martin.langhoff (subscriber, #61417) [Link] (2 responses)

Would love to get my hands on it -- is there a link where to shop from?

A read of the Mer wiki left me a bit sad. Clearly there are not many outfits shipping anything actually based on Mer (formerly known as Meego). Following the links to the OEMs supposedly shipping something is a disappointment.

It's no secret that at OLPC we are working on tablet-ish devices with touch interfaces :-) -- I'd like to see more polished, high quality !android Linux devices shipping.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Jan 31, 2012 23:06 UTC (Tue) by lbt (subscriber, #29672) [Link] (1 responses)

Let me clarify, Mer is not "formerly known as MeeGo". It's a spiritual successor using code from MeeGo as the baseline. We don't inherit any users or vendors from MeeGo although of course we hope some will track our progress and join us.

We do not have any marketing budget (never mind Intel's) and have only been around for a few months - how many devices do you *expect* would be shipping? :)

The Spark is an amazing achievement and we're glad to have helped.

We actually have some serious interest from a number of other vendors too.

I suspect we have some common goals - if our technology selection and vendor-oriented approach is of interest then feel free to come and talk to us at #mer on freenode or at FOSDEM in the mobile-dev room this weekend.

http://fosdem.org/2012/schedule/track/open_mobile_linux_d...

Finally I'll point to http://www.merproject.org/ to make sure you're in the right place as I'm not aware of anything in the Mer wiki linking to OEMs.

Seigo: The reveal

Posted Feb 2, 2012 2:18 UTC (Thu) by martin.langhoff (subscriber, #61417) [Link]

Thanks for the comment. You are right, I was a bit flip in my "formerly known as" comment. But then again... what's the difference? :-)

In any case, I had hoped perhaps some OEMs previously invested in MeeGo would have shifted to Mer, as you guys are still moving forward on the same codebase. I see the short list not as a fault of the Mer project, but as a reflection of limited oxigen in the tablet environment for OS platforms.

In your wiki http://wiki.merproject.org/wiki/Main_Page I found that it suggests 3 devices you could try to buy, but only the Plasma Active (Spark?) link is for something currently shipping _with Mer_. Nemo is a build for the Nokia N900 and ExoPC.

Cordia HD seemed to be blocked on driver source issues -- "The Cordia Tab project has hit a major roadblock and it seems we are stuck" http://cordiatab.com/