<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 8:55 PM, Chris McCracken <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chrismc@ozarkmountain.net">chrismc@ozarkmountain.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<rant><br>I *am* a bit angry. HTC has been refusing to provide the CDMA Hero kernel source to not just myself, but a whole community of developers since they first started delivering the phone Oct 9th, 2009. They have refused to acknowledge that there is any difference between the source used to build the GSM Hero and that used for the CDMA Hero (which has been proven false). I started this process to generate a full paper trail of their refusal to provide the source after seeing developers be shot down by HTC time after time (unfortunately without a lot of documentation of their transactions).<br>
<br>If this were an isolated occurrence, it could easily be written off as an oversight. However, HTC has built a history of being far less than forthcoming with GPL requests. I have used the exact procedure they specify for GPL requests, and I am not seeing anyone there take the least bit of responsibility for handling my inquiry. In fact, they seem to be going out of their way to avoid taking responsibility or for having any personal accountability whatsoever. If HTC has *any* valid legal or technical reason for NOT distributing the full CDMA kernel source, they have not publicly shared it.<br>
</rant><br><br></blockquote><div><br>I get that, I do, believe me. I might be in a position of having outrage fatigue. I remember explaining compliance to companies in the late 90s and I cannot sometimes believe I'm still having to do it. <br>
<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Chris D,<br>I read all four entries under the "Legal->About" reader (HTC legal, Sprint legal, Open source licenses, and Google legal), actually before you had suggested it the first time. I have since reread it after both times you suggested I do so. I'm trying to read between the lines that I might be missing something there, but I'm not getting it. The most relevant information I can find is in the "HTC legal" document:<br>
<br></blockquote><div><br>Oh, okay. Sorry for assuming you had not. <br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">
"Until the date that is three years after you acquired the Software, you may obtain a copy of the source code corresponding to the binaries for GPL-licensed file by sending a request to HTC customer service at <a href="http://www.htc.com" target="_blank">www.htc.com</a>, and HTC will send you a link to such source code."<br>
</blockquote><div><br>Typos are theirs, not mine. I followed that procedure to the letter. I used the online customer service system on <a href="http://www.htc.com" target="_blank">www.htc.com</a>, and very specifically outlined exactly what GPL source code I was requesting (Linux kernel only, for CDMA Hero as distributed by Sprint).<br>
<br>I don't believe that HTC has malicious intent. However, I do believe that HTC is not taking their GPL obligation seriously. Buying-in to OSS has many great benefits for commercial organizations. However, it also requires due diligence and honoring the requests of those that have developed the software. HTC's record of behavior in honoring GPL requests is doing nothing at this point besides alienating OSS developers. That is bad for Linux, bad for Android, bad for HTC, and by association bad for Google. I want the Android platform to grow just as much as everyone at HTC and Google, but if HTC keeps refusing to play well with others then Android will never get the full amount of OSS developer buy-in that is possible.<font color="#888888"><br>
</font></div></blockquote><div><br>So I'm with you up to a point, but blaming android/google for users of android not complying is like blaming bruce perens or busybox when manufacturer of the week messes up compliance. At CES there were microwaves, tablets, netbooks and phones all running android. I'll bet you some subset will ship out of compliance with the licenses therein. It's not a black mark on google that this happens, although some subset of open source enthusiasts might equate, they are imo wrong to do so, and I think it will take 2 to 3 years before people learn to blame google for that which is googles and joe random manufacturer that which is theirs. <br>
<br>But make no mistake, HTC should be doing better, for sure. I would be interested in hearing from other folks on the list if this is a typical amount of time for a manufacturer to come to terms with releasing or if it is more time than normal. <br>
<br>Chris<br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><font color="#888888">-Chris<br></font></div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 21:50, Chris DiBona <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cdibona@gmail.com" target="_blank">cdibona@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I think your email comes off as pretty angry. HTC has been slow to put up a mirror, but you haven't looking into letter of the license documentation compliance (which if you visit about -> legal in the phone menu should be there) I also think that maybe they need to learn how to be faster about this kind of thing, but to assume this comes from a malicious intent seems misguided and only serves to drive people away from using gpl'd components in their software. <br>
<font color="#888888">
<br>Chris</font><div><div></div><div><br><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Open Source Programs Manager, Google Inc.<br>Google's Open Source program can be found at <a href="http://code.google.com">http://code.google.com</a><br>Personal Weblog: <a href="http://dibona.com">http://dibona.com</a><br>