Re: Openmoko keyboard mockup
Chris Samuel wrote, on 2009-01-13 18:42: On Fri, 9 Jan 2009 5:11:45 am Stefan Monnier wrote: [1] - which is ironic given that they were invented to encourage people to publish their ideas rather than keep them secret. Actually, not so ironic: it basically means that rather than keeping them as internal secrets, they get to lock them in a government-provided vault. Where everyone can read them and the protection expires after a time. Don't get me wrong, I think patents are bad, especially these days where the techniques are often obsolete before the patent expires. :-( But the software patent is undecipherable gobbledegook rather than GPL-mandated copy of source code in its usual form for editing and development including sensible variable names, comments, makefiles, build scripts and everything that is not already available in other GPL packages to make it run. Arthur (trying to give the black knight of software patents another flesh wound). ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Software Patents [was Re: Openmoko keyboard mockup]
kimaidou wrote, on 2009-01-15 18:53: Hi all No offense, but could you please rename the topic with patents something instead of keyboard mockup ? I let you choose the right one though. thanks in advance. 2009/1/15 Arthur Marsh arthur.ma...@internode.on.net ... But the software patent is undecipherable gobbledegook rather than GPL-mandated copy of source code in its usual form for editing and development including sensible variable names, comments, makefiles, build scripts and everything that is not already available in other GPL packages to make it run. Arthur (trying to give the black knight of software patents another flesh wound). My apologies, a few months after reading all the discussion involving a Mr Quinn on groklaw.net I let go and put into a few words some of what is broken about software patents on this mailing list. I am hoping that published, some-flavour-of-GPL licensed software (and hardware), such developed by the openmoko project will lead to more people improving software and fewer people being involved in being software (and hardware) patent trolls. Arthur (coconut shells clip-clopping into the distance). ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: The forbidden topic: Glamo OpenGL
Michele Renda wrote, on 2008-11-14 23:59: PS. Some hints on future OpenGL chips can arrive inside the next GTAXX versions? :) Try http://www.opengraphics.org/ - once the FGPA version is fully debugged, an ASIC version could be produced. Arthur. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
mailing list merge
Hi, I saw a post on device-owners about some openmoko mailing list changes, but as I'm subscribed via gmane.org and for some reason email address scrambling was enabled, so any email addresses in headers or messages (unless '@' is replaced by other text e.g. ' at ') they are completely unintelligible. Could someone please contact the gmane.org and see if the surviving lists could be re-subscribed *without* email address scrambling? I would like to have the option to make off-list replies. Arthur. arthur.marsh at internode.on.net ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: interface for people with very poor eyesight?
Gilles Casse wrote, on 11/06/08 08:52: Hello, You could possibly get feedback from the gnome accessibility mailing list, they already expressed interest for accessible smartphones: http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-accessibility-list/ I am interested by the neo as a device which could be potentially used eyes-free. Best regards, Gilles If GTA02/3 can have a software package that meets or exceeds Mobile Accessibility (a closed source 3rd party expensive add on package locked to a particular handset from http://www.codefactory.es/), then many legally or completely blind people might start considering the FIC handsets. Arthur. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Will GTK be used in Openmoko?
Steven Kurylo wrote, on 20/05/08 10:44: On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Rod Whitby [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Marco Trevisan (Treviño) wrote: Well, I much appreciate your work and your openness with community, unfortunately I can't say the same about Openmoko in this occasion since this should be an Open company and so I'd have appreciated it more if the decision would have been debated before with developers and active part of community (= people writing code) in public lists. I guess the question is whether Openmoko Inc. ever promised that the contents of the rootfs for the phone that they sell will be determined by some sort of community consensus. If I remember correctly, they only promised to provide an open software platform upon which *you* can create your own personalised rootfs. By including both toolkits, they have not changed anything you experience with respect to this promise. And you'd end up arguing about the colour of the bike shed none stop. Some decisions openmoko just needs make to deliver us a phone. For those who didn't pick the reference, the executive bicycle shed is a project listed in the book Parkinson's Law that takes forever while more important issues are decided immediately without forming commitees. Arthur. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
SIM card read/write [was Re: SIM Card Copy]
Chris Hessing wrote, on 27/11/07 05:14: I have done a little bit of work with SIM cards in Linux. You should check out the PCSC project. It isn't the easiest thing to get running, but it can read and write data to/from SIM cards. (Assuming you have a reader it supports. I have a Towitoko Chipdrive, and a Cardman 6020 that it works with. I have also gotten in to work with the SIM card slots on the Dell D620 notebook.) I have used these libraries to implement EAP-SIM and EAP-AKA functionality in XSupplicant. I found: http://pcsclite.alioth.debian.org/ccid.html but the links to products that specifically mentioned SIM cards seemed to be dead )-:. There are also cheap USB SIM readers, and I got the impression that they could write to the card as well. So I got one on ebay. The software that came with it (only for Windows) could only read the card. I wish there was a Linux alternative, especially one that can also write the contacts to the SIM. (But since the Neo itself could do that, I guess it's no longer necessary.) There is a product called SIM Manager from www.smartsilicon.com.au that is MS-Windows only, but having bought one at a run-out sale for AUD$2 it does read and write the phone contacts list fine under Win98SE. Struggling to get back on topic, a USB SIM card reader/writer that works under GNU/Linux with free specifications and drivers would be a great complement to the NEO 1973 and successors. Would FIC be in a position to make available such a product? Arthur. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
OpenMoko / Neo 1973 as assistive technology
Hi, I heard a bit of a radio interview with a Jason Burton of Alzheimer's Australia Western Australia who was working on a project to use GPS enabled handsets as locators for people with dementia (who would obviously need to be carrying the handset and have GPS reception for the idea to work). At the moment they are using some handsets that are supplied by Vodafone that are designed for children, but I thought that the Neo 1973 with OpenMoko would be able to be made more suitable for such an application. I've passed on the URL of the OpenMoko web site to Jason and suggested that he subscribe to this list. If anyone is interested in contacting him direct, email me ( arthur dot marsh at internode dot on net ) and I will pass on his email address. Regards, Arthur. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: VoIP call transfer?
mathew davis wrote, On 29/03/07 05:29: I have an itch that I would like to explain to you and give an idea of how to overcome that itch and see if that is possible or not, and if so a good idea or not. So first here is my itch. I have a VoIP phone at home which uses my WiFi connection to make calls using skype. I like that it helps lower my cell phone bills a lot since I started a new business and it takes a lot of calls to make it sucessful. But I am not always at home sometimes I am just 5 minutes out from home and recieve a phone call I talk on the way home and then to cut my minutes short I tell them I will call them right back and then hang up switch to my VoIP phone. That gets old sometimes. Granted it is not a very big itch but it is annoying. A couple of examples of prior implementations of scratching this itch without voice-over-[wireless]-internet-protocol were BT's offering with a GSM/DECT handset (Ericsson) and GSM-CTS. There should be some documentation still around on how these worked that might make an interesting read. Of course, since these ideas helped reduce call costs, the carriers didn't embrace them. Arthur. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Voice synthesizer for blind and visual impaired person
Bartlomiej Zdanowski AutoGuard Ltd. wrote, On 27/03/07 17:53: Hi. I thought about voice synthesizer software to build in OpenMoko for blind person. I know some blind people and currently they can only use Nokia with Symbian and proper software. Does anyone have any experience with voice synthesizer soft and can provide some info whether it can be implemented on OpenMoko platform? There's so much to do for blind person and we can do it together so think guys and please provide some solutions and thoughts. Hi, a person I used to work for had a package called Mobile Accessibility on a Nokia (symbian os) handset. The drawbacks included not being entirely stable, being expensive, the copy protection that meant it couldn't be moved from handset to handset without getting a new activation code from the supplier, and the lack of ability to customise things. A large, high contrast display would help many vision impaired people, and a well-thought out spoken menu system with speech synthesis would help many low vision and completely blind people. The FIC 1973 does have the drawback of there being no tactile feedback for input via the screen. Does the hardware support the touch screen working if it were covered with a clear plastic screen with a raised grid pattern on it? Regards, Arthur. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: kexec-arm.patch? Re: Question about kernel level hacking
Robert Michel wrote, On 13/01/07 04:01: Salve Alessandro! On Fri, 12 Jan 2007, Alessandro Iurlano wrote: As I am mainly a low level programmer I will probably try to put my hands on the Neo at kernel level like customizing the linux kernel with patches or even try to program the Neo with my own kernel. :))) I think that the openess of the platform will allow me that. Is it right? Is there a way to recover a mistake at this level (that is, the boot loader doesn't work any more)? Do you know the kexec kernel patch? Only the first booted kernel need this patch and can load any other kernel into the RAM and switch to the second without reboot. *G* Maybe not the best links - just some quick found links http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-kexec.html This contains an error. It has: kexec -l /boot/bzImage -append=root=/dev/hda1 instead of kexec -l /boot/bzImage --append=root=/dev/hda1 Note the 2 dashes before append. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: GPLv3 and Mobile Phones
Josef Wolf wrote, On 20/12/06 09:01: Unfortunately, the details about the neo hardware are not disclosed yet. But AFAIK, the module in question is a separate modem communicating via AT-commands over a serial connection with the main CPU. I don't see a big difference to the types of modems that were common two decades ago. You ever blamed trailblazer/us-robotics/zyxel for their sources not beeing GPL? soapbox You should have seen what happened when Telebit/ITK/Digi abandoned the Telebit Fastblazer within the warranty period for the unit I purchased for AUD$1850. I had no joy from the manufacturer and eventually won a small claims case against the distributor/retailer who sold me the unit. If parts of the firmware are closed, as I imagine would be the case, there needs to be some kind of code escrow and a commitment that if the developer of the closed code is no longer supporting the code, that the code gets released. Other projects involving some open source software/parts and some closed source parts (e.g. hardware from a single supplier) have failed when the supplier of the closed source parts ceased selling those parts. Having just had to ditch a Nokia 3810 handset after 9 years of use due to Nokia no longer supporting them, I would hope that the OpenMoko platform would be ongoing, so that if some hardware parts become no longer available, there would be other hardware available that the existing software could be ported to, so that developers and users don't lose the use of the software they have developed and become accustomed to. /soapbox Arthur. ___ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
