5 ms·

Petition to LG to open source their phones

144 points by danielEM 6y ago

danielEM 6y ago
Would be happy to see a support from open source community for LG phones long after the manufacture is closed. LineageOS for example does a good job supporting old phones. Reverse engineering takes ages and very often is abandoned somewhere in the middle of months or years of work. So it would be very nice if LG didn't push open source community to have to do reverse engineering. Another thing is that they didn't manage to sell their mobile division so it means all their work is gonna go to waste. And that would be very pity. I would be happy to see them donating everything to organizations like Pine64 (or some other org - pine64 is just first that comes to my mind).
- Google234 6y ago
  I do wonder how much of the phones firmware is actually from vendors. That code obviously couldn’t be open sourced.
  - g_p 6y ago
    Most of the problematic parts that make it difficult to support into the future are from third parties like the chipset maker and the camera sensor maker etc. OEMs don't really have what you'd need to make the phone "open", even assuming that they were legally able to.
Google234 6y ago
I vouched for this. While I don’t find change petitions to be very useful I still think this might spur some interesting discussions.
fb03 6y ago
I don't see this happening tho. Sadly, there are closed source components in the products which are under NDA's, and even if the company wanted they wouldn't be able to open source some stuff.
- xvilka 6y ago
  They could open source whatever they can though.
- danielEM 6y ago
  I don't expect LG to open something that doesn't belong to them and I'm pretty sure that no matter what some drivers will remain closed source. That's fine. But still a HUGE help will be releasing schematics, GPIO usage, kernel configuration files and so on... You don't need everything open sourced to keep maintaining support. So I cross all my fingers for it to happen. :-)
kjrose 6y ago
As much as this would be excellent. I don't think a dying company will have the funds to do a full code audit and clean out everything everything have under license, under nda or under some other legal agreement and still have a functional code base at the end.
- onli 6y ago
  LG itself is not dying though, they are only leaving one market. If there is a situation where this might work for a classic enterprise is it this one, isn't it?
- chasil 6y ago
  Verizon also (appears to) mandate locked bootloaders for any Android devices that it certifies on its network. This extends even to Google Pixels, which are unlocked on every other carrier. LG would likely be sued by Verizon for issuing tools that could be used for unlocking.
  - kjrose 6y ago
    Pretty much. The code base is likely immense. The amount of cost for lawyers and engineers would easily outweigh any benefit for LG.
- rambojazz 6y ago
  Calling LG a dying company is a bit of a stretch...
ekianjo 6y ago
Zero chance of happening. As most petitions anyway.
ldbooth 6y ago
Maybe Microsoft would buy the division and open source it to make a viable competitive option to google and apple. Long shot...
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  After Nokia, I doubt Microsoft is excited to try that again so soon.
- giancarlostoro 6y ago
  Except they run on Android not some proprietary OS. Buying out Samsungs mobile wing might achieve this if you go for their custom OS, but Microsoft is the last company that needs to buy anybody out for an OS. I kinda hope somebody does buy out LG's mobile division though.
tw04 6y ago
Open what? The screen? 90% of what makes the phone a phone is Qualcomm IP and there’s no planet on which they’re going to allow release of their proprietary bits.
- noxer 6y ago
  It probably more about cam drivers and such stuff that prevents a news OSes from being useful on older devices. Essentially they could make it possible for independent devs to create updates for they phones for quite some time.
  - tw04 6y ago
    >It probably more about cam drivers So Sony's IP (who also will not open source it), because LG doesn't make a cellphone camera sensor that I'm aware of. A quick perusal of some of the most popular models shows almost entirely IMX (Sony) sensors.
    - noxer 6y ago
      They most likely wrote "the camera app" for it and could open source that which would allow someone to port it to a newer version of android.
- Brian_K_White 6y ago
  I'd be happy with nothing more than a bootloader unlock. They don't have to give me a line of proprietary code. It would be nice of course, but that just makes things easier. Releasing code is merely the difference between easy and difficult. A locked bootloader is the difference between possible and not-possible. (I have a Sprint V20 which is not rootable. There have been brief windows of rootability in the past due to exploits and hacks, which were subsequently closed.) Why would anyone even want a crappy old V20? Removable sd card. Removable battery. Headphone jack. The only thing I don't like is the placement of the power button. That is truly ridiculous and agrevating. Oh and the lcd actually kinda blows. It has a weird form of burn-in that comes & goes and always shows things that were recently on the screen, not really like normal permanent burn-in that builds up over time on a crt or oled. It's a known issue with the model. I digress but if I'm going to say why it matters to be able to root this old phone by pointing out it's unique and desirable features, I felt the pretty significant negative should be noted anywhere the positive is.
jeroenhd 6y ago
LG won't listen and doesn't care. I still signed the petition because I might as well help everyone try, but let's be honest, corporations don't give a damn about their products and customers after their proeucrs disappear from the shops, let alone the environment. It takes a lot of time and money to check code for licenses. The open source stuff they have to release is already available online anyway. The rest of the code is most likely the IP of someone else, be it Qualcom for the SoC or Sony for the camera blobs. It'd be nice if LG would open up their special sauce, if they do then I'll definitely consider their products first next time I need to replace something in my home.
AbraKdabra 6y ago
This would be great, my LG V20 is collecting dust in my desk besides my shiny and updated Note 10 Plus. But as LG decided to fuck up their customers, I'm pretty sure they won't care now...
squarefoot 6y ago
LG has been already caught spying viewers through their Smart TVs [0]; if that's common practice, I wouldn't expect them to open source their phones or anything else. Signed the petition anyway because I always support those efforts, but won't hold my breath on it. 0: https://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html https://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging...
Brian_K_White 6y ago
I don't need any code. Just a bootloader unlock.

144 points by danielEM 6y ago

Would be happy to see a support from open source community for LG phones long after the manufacture is closed. LineageOS for example does a good job supporting old phones. Reverse engineering takes ages and very often is abandoned somewhere in the middle of months or years of work. So it would be very nice if LG didn't push open source community to have to do reverse engineering. Another thing is that they didn't manage to sell their mobile division so it means all their work is gonna go to waste. And that would be very pity. I would be happy to see them donating everything to organizations like Pine64 (or some other org - pine64 is just first that comes to my mind).

Google234 6y ago
I do wonder how much of the phones firmware is actually from vendors. That code obviously couldn’t be open sourced.
- g_p 6y ago
  Most of the problematic parts that make it difficult to support into the future are from third parties like the chipset maker and the camera sensor maker etc. OEMs don't really have what you'd need to make the phone "open", even assuming that they were legally able to.

Google234 6y ago

I vouched for this. While I don’t find change petitions to be very useful I still think this might spur some interesting discussions.

fb03 6y ago

I don't see this happening tho. Sadly, there are closed source components in the products which are under NDA's, and even if the company wanted they wouldn't be able to open source some stuff.

xvilka 6y ago
They could open source whatever they can though.
danielEM 6y ago
I don't expect LG to open something that doesn't belong to them and I'm pretty sure that no matter what some drivers will remain closed source. That's fine. But still a HUGE help will be releasing schematics, GPIO usage, kernel configuration files and so on... You don't need everything open sourced to keep maintaining support. So I cross all my fingers for it to happen. :-)

kjrose 6y ago

As much as this would be excellent. I don't think a dying company will have the funds to do a full code audit and clean out everything everything have under license, under nda or under some other legal agreement and still have a functional code base at the end.

onli 6y ago
LG itself is not dying though, they are only leaving one market. If there is a situation where this might work for a classic enterprise is it this one, isn't it?
chasil 6y ago
Verizon also (appears to) mandate locked bootloaders for any Android devices that it certifies on its network. This extends even to Google Pixels, which are unlocked on every other carrier. LG would likely be sued by Verizon for issuing tools that could be used for unlocking.
- kjrose 6y ago
  Pretty much. The code base is likely immense. The amount of cost for lawyers and engineers would easily outweigh any benefit for LG.
rambojazz 6y ago
Calling LG a dying company is a bit of a stretch...

ekianjo 6y ago

Zero chance of happening. As most petitions anyway.

ldbooth 6y ago

Maybe Microsoft would buy the division and open source it to make a viable competitive option to google and apple. Long shot...

ocdtrekkie 6y ago
After Nokia, I doubt Microsoft is excited to try that again so soon.
giancarlostoro 6y ago
Except they run on Android not some proprietary OS. Buying out Samsungs mobile wing might achieve this if you go for their custom OS, but Microsoft is the last company that needs to buy anybody out for an OS. I kinda hope somebody does buy out LG's mobile division though.

tw04 6y ago

Open what? The screen? 90% of what makes the phone a phone is Qualcomm IP and there’s no planet on which they’re going to allow release of their proprietary bits.

noxer 6y ago
It probably more about cam drivers and such stuff that prevents a news OSes from being useful on older devices. Essentially they could make it possible for independent devs to create updates for they phones for quite some time.
- tw04 6y ago
  >It probably more about cam drivers So Sony's IP (who also will not open source it), because LG doesn't make a cellphone camera sensor that I'm aware of. A quick perusal of some of the most popular models shows almost entirely IMX (Sony) sensors.
  - noxer 6y ago
    They most likely wrote "the camera app" for it and could open source that which would allow someone to port it to a newer version of android.
Brian_K_White 6y ago
I'd be happy with nothing more than a bootloader unlock. They don't have to give me a line of proprietary code. It would be nice of course, but that just makes things easier. Releasing code is merely the difference between easy and difficult. A locked bootloader is the difference between possible and not-possible. (I have a Sprint V20 which is not rootable. There have been brief windows of rootability in the past due to exploits and hacks, which were subsequently closed.) Why would anyone even want a crappy old V20? Removable sd card. Removable battery. Headphone jack. The only thing I don't like is the placement of the power button. That is truly ridiculous and agrevating. Oh and the lcd actually kinda blows. It has a weird form of burn-in that comes & goes and always shows things that were recently on the screen, not really like normal permanent burn-in that builds up over time on a crt or oled. It's a known issue with the model. I digress but if I'm going to say why it matters to be able to root this old phone by pointing out it's unique and desirable features, I felt the pretty significant negative should be noted anywhere the positive is.

jeroenhd 6y ago

LG won't listen and doesn't care. I still signed the petition because I might as well help everyone try, but let's be honest, corporations don't give a damn about their products and customers after their proeucrs disappear from the shops, let alone the environment. It takes a lot of time and money to check code for licenses. The open source stuff they have to release is already available online anyway. The rest of the code is most likely the IP of someone else, be it Qualcom for the SoC or Sony for the camera blobs. It'd be nice if LG would open up their special sauce, if they do then I'll definitely consider their products first next time I need to replace something in my home.

AbraKdabra 6y ago

This would be great, my LG V20 is collecting dust in my desk besides my shiny and updated Note 10 Plus. But as LG decided to fuck up their customers, I'm pretty sure they won't care now...

squarefoot 6y ago

LG has been already caught spying viewers through their Smart TVs [0]; if that's common practice, I wouldn't expect them to open source their phones or anything else. Signed the petition anyway because I always support those efforts, but won't hold my breath on it. 0: https://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html https://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging...

Brian_K_White 6y ago

I don't need any code. Just a bootloader unlock.