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On 31/05/10 13:26, Neil Williams wrote:
On Mon, 31 May 2010 12:41:55 +0100 Simon Williams<simon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Important question to ask before buying an open source phone. Can I just read the code or can I actually get modifications onto my device?You're assuming that the on-phone distro is compatible with your desktop distro so that you can build modifications without requiring a whole new SDK. The two usage models are too far apart in most cases. It's not just an issue of cross-building (which is hard enough), it's switching the fundamental system from an overly complex desktop multi-user configuration to a minimal single-user configuration. In Debian, that often means removing coreutils and using busybox.
I wasn't referring to using desktop code on phones. I was talking about modifications to the phones existing system. Yes, it probably has a different SDK and cross-compiling system, but that's irrelevant.
Example: Say I have an Android phone and I want to do something with the hardware that isn't possible without modifications to the kernel. The source on Android is available, so I can make these changes and use them in the SDK virtual device, or on a developer device. But (apart from hacks), it is not possible for me to get these changes onto my phone.
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