Nexus S support in Replicant being worked on

[PaulK]

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This is a copy of the blog post published at
http://replicant.us/2011/08/nexus-s-support-in-replicant-being-worked-on/
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A few month ago, we (Replicant developers) decided to start the work on
the new Google Nexus S.

This device seemed an interesting target at first since it doesn't have
any technical restriction to flash a non-official operating system and
kernel but also as it comes with the latest (free) version of Android,
Gingerbread. Of course, even if Android Gingerbread is free, the device
requires non-free bits (libraries, binaries, firmwares, etc) to actually
use the full potential of the hardware.

The work was started at the end of July and the 100% free images of
Replicant 2.3 that run on the device already contain a set of supported
features. You can get a detailed state of the Nexus S support in
Replicant at
http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/ReplicantStatus#nexuss. All
the source code is, as usual, available in Replicant's gitorious repos.
Though, we still miss a big part: the RIL, that is necessary for
telephony.

We soon discovered that the hardware of the Nexus S was made in a way
that gives better freedom guarantees than other Replicant-supported
phones. You can read a rational concerning this aspect of the phone,
along with a technical overview of the device at
http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/NexusSTechnicalOverview.

Also, whereas the bootloaders for the other Replicant-supported devices
are all non-free, it may be possible to port a free bootloader (u-boot
for instance) to the Nexus S. A wiki page that comes with all the infos
we have about this is at:
http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/NexusSBootloader.

The next important steps in the Nexus S support are the following (in no
particular order):

* find out if a free bootloader is possible for Nexus S and start the
work on it
* write a free RIL so that we can use the telephony functions

and, when that is achieved:

* release official preview images
* replace the last replaceable non-free bits (GPS and compass for
instance)

As usual, we are looking for new hackers to join the effort to bring
some more bits of freedom to the mobile phone world.

-- 
Paul Kocialkowski 
* Site web	: <http://www.paulk.fr/>
* Blog		: <http://blog.paulk.fr>