Freedom And Pandora

[klikklak]

Hi all,

I've had a small change of heart from reading the open source games thread (maybe that cpu power won't go to waste). I've also started wondering if my half-assed (ubuntu8.10 and nvidia blob) commitment for free software wasn't enough. Anyway, I though I read somewhere that all parts of the pandora are free software, including the bios, is this true? If it is, count me in.

 

[Squidge]

That is certainly the aim of the project, however it will never be 100%.

At the moment, the Wifi/BT & 3D Hardware is closed source. We are hoping to have an open source Wifi/BT some time in the future, but the 3D hardware will most likely remain closed source.

However, this certainly doesn't stop you from building your own bios/bootloader (it's uboot), and/or Kernel. No part of the kernel is closed source, although some modules such as the gfx will utilise "binary blobs" loaded into memory by open source drivers.

 

[klikklak]

*sigh* A pity. Now I have to decide between the Wiz and Pandora as neither has the advantage regarding this. Thanks for the answer. Well, graphics driver blob isn't that bad I suppose.

 

[Squidge]

If you didn't care about the 3D part, you could throw the graphics driver blob away, and (when the wifi driver is open sourced) have a completely open (but 2D only, like the GP32/GP2X) device

It would still probably run a good 90% of apps, if not more.

 

[mali]

Someone is going to try to reverse engineer the SGX.
Read here:
http://forum.openpandora.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=341

 

[nubie]

The beauty of the Pandora and Ti support is that we have enthusiasts with access to NDA info and they can implement changes the community needs/wants.

I agree this is a far cry from you getting the source, but it is a hell of a lot better than some companies that don't even care about the same goals as the community releasing products with no support or even working binary blobs. I think in this respect the Pandora wins, as communication with the GPH (the Wiz), or MagicEyes (the Pollux SOC) is near impossible, they don't listen to the community.

Unfortunately it makes a democratic system where only feasible community needs would get any attention, so a one-off that you want to look at personally would require you to get a NDA.

AFAIK the "BIOS" will boot you from an SD or NAND, and it is Uboot, I don't know what else you need, I am sure there are functions, but couldn't they just as easily run off the NAND or SD?