[Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

A few weeks ago we received1 a letter requesting that maemo.org cease distribution of Chromium, due to ongoing litigation involving the software.

The Community Council, the package maintainer of Chromium on maemo.org and Nokia legal were contacted.

As you are aware, it is Nokia's policy to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties. Thus, we suggested that Chromium be removed from maemo.org while the situation was clarified.

Nokia legal will be taking a look on the roles and responsibilities of maemo.org. This work should clarify the roles on maemo.org so the process would be clear if we were to receive any future requirements as the one from Red Bend.

*

[1] A physical letter as defined in the contact page on http://maemo.org/legal/terms.



Link: Original article.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Does anyone know what this "ongoing litigation" is about?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Just curious about what "ongoing litigation" is about...

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

small google search :
http://blog.ipfactor.co.il/2009/11/0...e-over-chrome/

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Check this out for a little more info:
Google docs

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

this is just insane. software patents make pandas sad

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

http://maemo.org/legal/terms is down.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

So because some company claims google infriges on their patents maemo.org is pulling the software. I would say it should stay until the lawsuit is settled. Pulling the software before is saying Google is Guilty before they even get a trial. Not that this will ever go to trial.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

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Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

cant somebody just put it up on their own repository?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Pulling the software before means keeping maermo.org out of possible troubles, even if the chances of real trouble might be small.

I see no advantage in taking these risks. I'd see huge advantages in throwing foul zucchini at people who abuse so-calles software patents.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

what if we start getting requests like these every week. What if a lawsuit is filed against Nokia for a software patent would we pull them all?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

So if we face a patent suit over the Maemo 5 operating system = kill switch OS update sent to all N900's...?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

We had this discussion before. The problem always is that this isn't just some shady community-run site. It's backed by Nokia and therefore an attractive target. That's the price we have to pay for Nokia's financial involvement with the site.

One of the solutions proposed then was a "bad" repository that would host anything a clean, conservative, law-abiding community wouldn't want to have at the moment. Such a private, "bad" repository wouldn't easily be a target for manic lawyers.

But until we have that... Better be safe, I'd say.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

It's easy for people to support maemo.org taking risks when they're not the ones who have to deal with consequences.

"Better safe than sorry" can be seen as a weasel's policy, but in these times of software patent litigation it's unavoidable... especially for organizations like this one.

Oh, and just say no to software patents.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

This. (biglongmessagestuffythingshere)

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

AFAIK the issue is Courgette,
an algorithm for reducing the size of software updates
http://blog.chromium.org/2009/07/sma...safer-too.html

Maemo's software updates use apt/.deb, so how about disabling
Courgette in Chrome as it is not used anyway?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

I'm sure this will blow over eventually like the situation did with Nokia vs. Nintendo..

if you still want to install chromium, email me at mckenzba@gmail.com and i'll give you a link :p

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Very good idea. I'm looking forward for BAD repository... :D oh god I have so many things to add there :p

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

That is one of the avenues the Council, Nokia Legal and jacekowski have been investigating.

There are two sides to any mitigation:

1. Does the person who sent the C&D accept that you've removed "their" IP? Including in the source code remember.
2. If not, is it a risk those who are the target of any lawsuit willing to bear; based on technical assurances?

As it says in the announcement, it's pushed the issue of maemo.org governance to the fore again, but it's difficult to immediately think of structures which a) don't expose volunteers to cease & desist letters or b) don't force Nokia Legal to err on the side of caution.

Someone has to take responsibility, and if you want to pursue #1 then you want to act in good faith whilst those discussions continue.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Very well put Jaffa.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

What would be needed to be perfectly fine legally would be to take the chrome repository, and fork it.

This fork would need to have none of the source-code of courgette - that would need totally ripped out of any revision history that was kept.

Then build a binary from that.

You will certainly win any court case that ensues, if competently represented.

However, that does not mean that you, or if it's a Nokia repository, Nokia, won't face time in court - for which you may not get your costs back.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Perhaps this is an opportunity to consider the benefits of having maemo.org governance be more independent. It would be to Nokia's benefit because they would not be liable for the actions of maemo.org. It would be to our benefit because we could make our own decisions.

I think such proposal has been invited in the past:

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...&postcount=166

and this Chromium issue may raise the interest of Nokia in accomplishing the transition at the present time.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

As I said, it's already raised this and discussions have started:

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...1&postcount=20

The process here was very open and collaborative with the council. Obviously, I wasn't on the council during the Nintendo affair, but I get the impression Nokia have learnt how to improve their collaboration with the community in these circumstances.

Indeed, if anyone was lacking, it was the council in responding in a timely manner: if we can't act professionally on these very important issues (certainly important to Nokia), we lose credibility.

Whoever is running the show, ultimately someone - and very possibly an individual - is going to get a C&D letter like the one Nokia got. Unless we built up a large legal fund (or had lawyers willing to work pro bono) the result on this Chromium decision would've been the same: remove the package as an act of good faith whilst you try to have a dialogue to reach an amicable settlement.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Yes, I read that post. It suggested everything was being discussed and governance was being revisited and , but wasn't specific and I am specifically proposing the legal entity that qgil suggested.


If for example a non-profit foundation is formed, then it would insulate individuals from liability as well as Nokia. Not to say that the C&D letter won't be received, but the situation changes radically in that instance. If Nokia is clearly out of the picture, then they don't have much incentive to threaten a non-profit foundation. While the decision not to offer a piece of software may be the same in a particular instance, there is more latitude.

Also, there are benefits to such a structure in other circumstances which is why Linux Foundation exists, etc., to support the software rather than make profits.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Indeed, good points.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Quick question, I've got this package for an old app that has been discontinued, how hard is it to make a .deb file out of a .tar.gz?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

WTF? there is chrome and chromium, and second is freeware and is under opensource licence for linux, and is maemo one of the linux distros - what's the problem?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

OpenSource does not mean that it does not infringe a patent.

But if the patent can hold in court, this is only for US citizens. Nokia should do what Debian did. Have a US repository and a non-US repository. The US would be limited in content by their patent laws, the non-US would not obey non-US laws. I don't see why a lawsuit in the US should prevent everyone in the world to use Chromium.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

As far as i know, chromium does not have the problematic auto update feauture. So even if google loose on court, it will be safe to use and distribute chromium.

Now you can see, how the software patents can **** up your day ;)

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

For all interested http://jacekowski.org/node/1 - links to chromium containing courgette.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

jacekowski: Thanks! I put your version into my repo (see my sig), so if you have it enabled on your N900, it will show up in your app manager.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

It's up to version 10 now and is getting rave reviews. Any chance of an update?

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

It would be nice if Chromium ran on the n900, and this was available in the repos, because it is fast and runs Flash 10. It has replaced Firefox as my preferred browser. It seems easily available for Windows and Linux, so I am not clear why if there is a version that runs on the n900, this should not be available via the updater.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

We have chromium, it was ported by Jacekowski and is hosted in his private repo due to patent issues. Look for http://maemo.jacekowski.org, it should be under pool/free/c

Kind Regards,
D4rK

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

You didn't read what I said, did you?

By repos I mean standard repos, not some guy's repos, which relies on stuff in extras to work.

Mish

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

The argument for removal seems pretty tenuous, as the suit is against Google, and they are still challenging them. Then they would need to go through all those linuxes that re-distribute via the repositories. Chromium is, I believe, standard for MeeGo. The outcome will be that either Google will win, they will lose and pay the litigant lots of money to let them use it (the main aim of these suits), or they will remove that bit from the code (which only relates to the updating process, from what I can make out). Sure, if Google loses, and keeps using it without paying up, then there could be an issue for those who also distribute - but the need for removal would be at that point.

So, please put it back in the repositories, in a similar way that it is available in other distributions. It seems pointless continuing to nobble this system when there are applications available that would enhance it. At the end of the day, n900/Maemo is small fry, and needs all the opportunities it can get.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

I would also love to see a newer version of it for N900. I tried to contact jacekowski but never got a reply. I had planned to look into porting 9.x or 10.x if it doesn't involve too much code patching but I simply have no time atm. If any able individual would look into it i would be delighted.

Re: [Council] "Chromium" removed from maemo.org repositories
 

So, it may not be that Chromium is even affected by this in the way Chrome is? Yet it was still removed? Bizarre.