On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 10:43 AM, Simos Xenitellis <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 3:00 PM, maxime.ripard > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Wed, Aug 06, 2014 at 12:43:50PM +0300, Simos Xenitellis wrote: >> > Thanks all for the replies! >> > >> > I composed the document for Nicolas and I hope he manages to arrange for >> > a >> > video interview. >> > The two main aspects were that what Allwinner currently provides (to the >> > developer communities) is not sufficient, >> > and that what is needed is a direct contact from Allwinner to the >> > linux-sunxi community >> > in order to sort out issues as they develop. >> >> I'm a bit concerned about this to be honest. >> >> No other SoC vendor will give you that sort of thing for free. >> And no other SoC vendor will either send dev boards to any random dude >> on the internet. >> >> I don't think you could show up and just require that. > > > I think the bar has been set quite low so there should be little concern. > That is, Nicolas will probably try to arrange for an interview to discuss > about open-source development at Allwinner. > He may try the style of his existing videos (camera on hand, visit offices > and talk directly to employees) > or take an interview with a spokesperson of Allwinner. > He should describe the need to have upstream support for Allwinner SoCs, > and the need to have some direct contact with Allwinner on open-source > software development.
Might want to give them the questions ahead of time so that they can prepare answers. We'll get better answers that way. If you spring a hard question they just won't answer. > > He can use the argument: look, Rockchip has DT files in the Linux kernel, > and there are none from Allwinner. > Or, if you want to enter the server market, then it is quite important to > have > mainline Linux kernel support. > The effort happening from linux-sunxi is for the benefit of Allwinner. > > On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 3:47 PM, Jean-Luc Aufranc <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> >> I'm not sure if this is the kind of question you would consider, but I >> once asked them a few questions about AllWinner and Linaro, and they >> acknowledge my message, saying they will reply later. (That was about 6 >> weeks ago...). Here's the list: >> >> * Why did AllWinner decide to join Linaro, and especially the Digital Home >> Group? > > > In hindsight, I can understand why they did not answer yet. They may have > not put substantial resources yet, so they are probably postponing until > they have something that can be announced. > > On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 12:51 AM, Henrik Nordström > <[email protected]> wrote: > >> ons 2014-08-06 klockan 08:27 -0400 skrev [email protected]: >> >> > I suspect they could eliminate 50% of their support burden by doing >> > two things: >> > 1) Full documentation in the manuals/datasheets >> > 2) Put the SDKs up on a public server so that people can be sure they >> > are using the most recent ones. >> >> Keep in mind that Allwinner are used to not having many outside >> developers working on code for their chips. The SDK is produced by a >> fairly small team of people, and their main target market is high wolume >> tablets, where all is using their SDK and supported periperial devices >> (touch screens etc), and even large part of the PCB designs are done by >> a small group and then copied as-is by others. >> >> Going from that to full documented chip with a lot of code developed & >> maintained outside is very very far and they will need a lot of help and >> positive guidance on how to move forward. >> > > I think that this describes the situation, and we should take that into > account when interacting with Allwinner. > > In addition, companies in China/Korea/Japan tend to be rigidly hierarchical, > so you tend to need to persuade someone high in the ranks. > Thus, if Nicolas gets to talk to Allwinner about these issues and, for > example, to someone like that guy at > http://armdevices.net/2014/07/18/allwinner-a80ts-solution-development-cycle/ > then it would be a step forward. > >> Demanding is not the right approach. Allwinner is not dependent on >> linux-sunxi at all for the bulk of their market share. > > > The argument about the A80 being used in a server environment is quite > strong and requires mainline Linux kernel support. > In addition, Allwinner would probably want to grown in new markets, such as > tablets with Firefox OS (Mozilla Foundation) or Ubuntu (Canonical). > Both these would ideally require mainline Linux kernel support (and uboot, > etc). > There was a recent mail here about 500 A31 tablets running Firefox OS and > having a exotic issue with OS/X. > > Still, the millions of the chipsets go to the Android devices as you say. > > Simos > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "linux-sunxi" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Jon Smirl [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "linux-sunxi" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
