Maemo & Closed source

[sovok]

I'm an Android developer and i'm considering to support maemo too in case it's getting more mature and more phones are running it.

However since i don't know much about maemo i got some questions about the platform.

1. Are closed source applications allowed on maemo?
   
2. Are closed source applications equal to open source applications? (in terms of promotion compared to closed source on Linux distributions where open source if preferred)
   
3. Are manufacturers allowed to use maemo on their devices with/without asking for permission?
   
4. Are manufacturers allowed to extend maemo using closed source?

That's it so far
Thanks

[zehjotkah]

Welcome to the Community!!

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Some parts of maemo are closed source, so they can't use these parts, but the rest... Why not?
4. I think so (Why not?)

[sovok]

Thanks.

3. Which parts? Are there plans to change this in the future?
4. I think it depends on maemos license model. If its GPL they couldn't do that.

[zerojay]

Nokia's working hard to open as much of Maemo to us as possible and over the years that has happened more and more.

[SD69]

Originally Posted by sovok

Thanks.

3. Which parts? Are there plans to change this in the future?
4. I think it depends on maemos license model. If its GPL they couldn't do that.

3. The parts have been identified somewhere on this site. There will always be some parts of Maemo which are not open.

4. AFAIK, Maemo as a whole is not available under any license, but the open parts are generally LGPL.

You might want to participate in the mer project which endeavors to have a completely open-source analog of Maemo.

[korbé]

Originally Posted by SD69

3. The parts have been identified somewhere on this site. There will always be some parts of Maemo which are not open.

Ho Ho, Were?

[SD69]

Originally Posted by korbé

Ho Ho, Were?

I believe this thread has the most up-to-date discussion on the subject.

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=30607

[sovok]

Hmm seems that maemo still needs some time... but i'll keep an eye on it.
Hopefully it will become a healthy competitor to Android some day.

Thanks for your replies

[allnameswereout]

Short answer: Yes.

Many libraries are LGPL. You're free to develop and sell or share proprietary software on an open source platform such as Ubuntu or Maemo. Some proprietary software has existed long time for Maemo. Examples: Adobe Flash, Fring, Gizmo, Skype, Wayfinder/Navicore, Devicescape.

[theflew]

Originally Posted by sovok

Hmm seems that maemo still needs some time... but i'll keep an eye on it.
Hopefully it will become a healthy competitor to Android some day.

Thanks for your replies

I think Android and Maemo are on different sides of the fence. Google does not produced devices, they produce services. So they want as many manufactures to use their OS as possible. But the OS isn't as open as Maemo. Nokia on the other hand sells millions of phones so they can be the soul manufacture with Maemo on it and still out sell Android devices because of their scale.

I wouldn't attribute Android volume to Maemo volume just by the number of manufactures using the OS. Using that calculation you wouldn't do anything for the Blackberry or iPhone since only a single manufacture uses those OS's.