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Community Council | Posts: 4,920 | Thanked: 12,867 times | Joined on May 2012 @ Southerrn Finland
#3332
Originally Posted by Flynx View Post
ELI5 - explain like i'm 5 (years old)

I've been watching for over 10 years as people try to load various operating systems on different mobile devices. A common theme has become the table that lists which bits of the device are working, partially working, or not working.

I understand this is mostly because hardware components have closed-source drivers, right? Why is this such a large barrier? The lack of documentation on how to interface the binary blob? (assuming a similar kernel)
Yes, the largest (and really the only) problem is that there is no documentation available so people need to try to reverse-engineer the workings of the ABI which is really painful and slow.

This is something which I am always wondering; why so much obscurance since I'd imagine it is in the intrests of chip manufacturers to get as amy users as possible for their products. Opening up the specs and interfaces would increase chances for people to buy the gear, right?
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