« Crash course in user generated content | Main | 15 years Linux: past and future (video) »
Open source mobile phones redefine "open"
Just because mobile phones are increasingly running Linux doesn't mean that users should expect the devices to be as open as a Linux PC.
Regulators and operators have a big interest in limiting open source's "openness" as much as they can. Because they wouldn't want an enthusiastic developer to tweak the radio to ensure better signal quality, having him knock out the entire cellular system in the process, or secretly flip the switch on premium services such as high speed data plans without having to pay for it.
Phones are not PCs," Palmsource's senior vice president of Engineering Mike Kelley said at Linuxworld.
"They tie in to a radio that is regulated. They are tied into very expensive back end infrastructure that can be seriously disrupted by malfunctioning phones. They bill the users for all kinds of activities."
Smart phone makers therefore prohibit native Linux applications altogether (Motorola's current approach) or limit them to a so-called sandbox where they have limited exposure to the phone's vital functions.
But that won't stop open source developers. Given that Linux is governed by the GPL, they will hack away at mobile Linux simply because they can. Harald Welte especially seems to have made it his life task to (fully legally) tear down the walls that Motorola has constructed inside its Linux phones.
Mike Kelley
technorati tags: linuxworld, lnxw, lnxwsf06, palmsource, mobile+linux, cellphone, harald+welte
August 16, 2006 at 10:26 PM | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/24766/5703779
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Open source mobile phones redefine "open":
Spanish
