I'm quite disappointed with what I've discovered. Maemo.org requires users to surrender their serial number and sign an EULA in order to update what was erroneously expressed to me as a totally open platform.

Exactly what components are not GPL'd?

Has there been any efforts yet to replace them? Could the black box components possibly be replaced by porting something from OpenMoko, Android, or the like?

I'm a developer who was highly motivated to contribute before I discovered this. Would it be feasible for a GNU purist to grab the GPL pieces and assemble an image that runs free of CSS contamination?

Also, from a legal standpoint, what rights do we give up if we sign the EULA? I wasn't even able to read the EULA w/out supplying my s/n.

According to the manual (some of these have more restrictive licenses than GPL, some have less restrictive licenses):
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent
JPEG Group.
The Graphics Interchange Format© is the Copyright property of
CompuServe Incorporated. GIF SM is a Service Mark property of
CompuServe Incorporated.
Adobe® Flash® Player. Copyright © 1996-2007 Adobe Systems
Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Protected by U.S. Patent
6,879,327; Patents Pending in the United States and other
countries. Adobe and Flash are either trademarks or registered
trademarks in the United States and/or other countries.
This product includes software under following licenses and
developed by following copyrightholders:
• Computing Services at Carnegie Mellon University
(http://www.cmu.edu/computing/)
• Tommi Komulainen (Tommi.Komulainen@iki.fi)
• The OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit
(http://www.openssl.org)
• Pedro Roque Marques
• Eric Rosenquist, Srata Software Limited
• The XFree86 Project, Inc (http://www.xfree86.org) and its
contributors
• Paul macKerras (paulus@samba.org)
• Purdue Research Foundation
• OpenEvidence Project for use in the OpenEvidence Toolkit
(http://www.openevidence.org/)
• Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com)
• Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com)
Copyright © 1996 NVIDIA, Corp. NVIDIA design
pending in the U.S. and foreign countries.

- i don't have any problem with entering my MAC address to get the os update...

- yes, i have to agree that the technical information and specifics regarding the platform are not outlined in a cohesive/comprehensive way... (the APIs are ref'd, but one needs to do some work to get up to speed - LOTS of reading!)

- from what i've been able to glean from postings and list searches is that the binary 'blobs' are for wifi and other chipset functions in the tablet (power management?)... others may want to chime in here...

- you can get the GPL'd portion of base distribution and other apps here:

http://repository.maemo.org/pool/

(choose your target os release, such as os2008)

- AFA development, you're still in control, as any software you develop and license under the GPL (V2? V3?) is still protected by that license... or why not just use the BSD license?

- you'll get to read a EULA when installing the SDK - specifically Nokia's binary bits... it should be embedded in the install .sh script... you can get the script here:

http://repository.maemo.org/stable/chinook/

- unfortunately "integration@maemo.org" did not see fit to allow one to peruse the embedded license in the Nokia binary install script unless one has a working Scratchbox install (really stupid, IMHO)... there *should* be a command-line option to view the license using the 4MB script...

<sigh>

- various license links are here:

http://maemo.org/intro/licenses/

(note that the way i read things, these licenses only apply if you choose to use maemo.org's resources... set up your own site, host your own software, set up your own repository, use your own license - JMHO, IANAL)

:-)

Who expressed it as a "totally open platform"? This is purely a fiction of your imagination, as it's been made quite clear here and other places that the platform isn't "totally open".

Of note: typically "CSS" refers to a Cascading Style-Sheet.

You might want to take a look at the Mamona project or the efforts of installing Debian.

+1 Mamona looks *very* promising...

http://dev.openbossa.org/trac/mamona

@jgombos: Your "serial number" is just your MAC address. If you're *really* paranoid about them seeing it, I'll be happy to just email or pm you the EULA, but really... (or are you saying you don't have a tablet?)
Anyways, lots of stuff is actually closed source. Chunks of the media player, parts of the desktop, some home applets, some statusbar plugins (brightness and volume at least), wifi, dsp (sound...) and bluetooth drivers, as was mentioned before, probably quite a few userland programs, including the browser UI. It *is* disappointing. Some of us (including me) are trying to get Debian working nicely, but for now closed source stuff is needed for sound, bluetooth and wifi. It's not a terribly useful machine without that :/ And you realize most of Android has no source at all yet, right? It's binary only until Google decides to release their stuff...

Maemo is open. You have to enter your MAC address at tablets-dev.nokia.com to get a Nokia OS image, *based* upon Maemo.

Specific to these devices, if some parts had not begun as closed, then the tablets could not and would not have been released. As has been noted numerous times on this forum as well, continuous efforts have been made to replace as many closed aspects as possible with open equivalents. However, as long as technologies like Flash are supported, they can't possibly be 100% open and I don't know how someone would get the idea they could.

Thanks for all the responses folks. Y'all have addressed my concern quite comprehensively. Considering that Mamona exists and is in moving forward, I have no issue with developing Maemo apps on a temporary basis until Mamona is stable.

Regarding the MAC address, I'm very distrusting. I can only see how the collection of that information can be used against users and developers. Eg. A developer who becomes bound by the EULA (and the agreement acceptance is tracked via MAC address) produces an OS or component that somehow damages the profits of those standing in front of closed source components. From there it's just a matter of picking out whatever in the fine print in the EULA that can be used to threaten or sue the developer.
OpenMoko has found a way to do this w/out closed parts.
I believe I've started the only thread of this kind on this forum. But searching has its limits.
Frills like Flash could easily be a separate install. And if Flash and other non-essential technologies were the only parts preventing Mamona from happening, Maemo may not have been packaged with them in the first place (debatable) but certainly Mamona would already be complete, and it would have captured the interest of most developers; certainly all the GNU purists.

(BTW, Flash does have a GPL alternative)