Android code to be merged back into the kernel ?

[me2000]

Android code to be merged back into the kernel ?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/15/android_linux_kernel_reintegration/

The reason we care about this is so that Meego might run on Android devices. The larger the hardware platform for Meego the larger the developer base will be and thus the better Meego will be.

[ysss]

Judging by the different business model adopted by MeeGo and Android OEMs, I think they would be happy to support cross compatibility between OSes to run on their devices...

[xman]

Interesting, does anyone see this as a possible defense against the meego support that seems to have been in the news?

Also I would be very happy to keep google tech off my device as much as possible. So if it's just app compatibility..cool anything more is a no go for me. Which is one of the reasons I stay away from apple/google phones.

x

[quipper8]

none of these mobile manufacturers want to have linux drivers released for their chips, IMO. They like the nice closed shop they have now.

Basically, the way i see it, google is holding out on releasing the driver code for the various mobile chips until it is pretty much obsolete. Chris DiBona said right in the article it will be a multiyear process.

The handset manufacturers and carriers(and now google) are determined to not let what happen to the pc market happen to the handheld market, namely that any joe schmo can buy the hardware and make his own.

[me2000]

It is my understanding that Google released the drivers to a bunch of the hardware into the kernel code. It got rejected and removed at some point because the Google devs didn't play by the kernel maintainer's rules.

It might be a multi year project to sync everyting back in, but there will be some drivers as soon as they start.

There will be a lot of commonality in the drivers on handheld devices. When Google releases their drivers, they will work with other devices or be able to be modded to work on similar hardware.

The hardware guys are tired of getting locked out of the market due to the software. Its in their interest to OS the drivers and let 3rd parties implement the software for them.

Even if a phone supplier keeps their drivers closed, it doesn't take much dev for another manufacturer to write a driver.

Meego is going to level the software playing field on these devices. The game is going to become based on the hardware and specialized apps.

The whole industry is looking for a way to catch up with the iPhone and get away from being reliant on a proprietary OS like Windows Mobile or Symbian.

[egoshin]

It is my understanding that Google released the drivers to a bunch of the hardware into the kernel code. It got rejected and removed at some point because the Google devs didn't play by the kernel maintainer's rules.

Actually, it is a "kernel maintainer's rules" which is a problem.

[me2000]

I didn't want to point the finger that closely... but yes, probably.

[buurmas]

The reason we care about this is so that Meego might run on Android devices. The larger the hardware platform for Meego the larger the developer base will be and thus the better Meego will be.
And (sorry) what about the flip side of Android running on other devices? Would that be easier as well? Seems like kernel differences at least partially contributed to this project stalling:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=372262

[me2000]

Its a free world. People can run what they want.