Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankh
Just open-sourcing the drivers is all that is needed. You want to flash your eReader to turn it into a, say, dedicated Sudoku machine? Fine. Why would Pocketbook care?
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The first generation of PocketBooks, especially PB301 ran on generic hardware. We were told that PocketBook programmers (called Guys In Kiev (TM) here) are fiercely independent and are extremely proud of their work. It is very rare in the industry that programmers have any deciding power over software specification.
The programmers wanted to prevent people from flashing PocketBook software to other devices, such as Coolreader, CyBook and others. It is very difficult to provide you with access to the guts of the system without giving competition tools to copy your entire system (including key proprietary parts you have developed entirely in-house).
Look at Sony for example. They provided source codes for parts that use GPL software exactly to the letter of law. What can we do with those parts? NOTHING. We have no access to the system to make any use of that information. Firmware update gave hackers tools to hack the device, not code published as GPL requirement.
Sony devices use proprietary MontaVista Linux, PocketBook uses Embedded Debian.