HTC released the kernel source for the 3.16.651.3 and 3.15.651.16 OTA kernels 34 and 83 days after the OTAs, respectively, in compliance with the Android GPL. Both sources clock in at around 98.7MB and contain essentially the same code; the newer kernel’s source is about 7K larger.
The GPL requirements state that since most of the kernel is developed by other developers, if you’re going to use it, you have to release the source code in a timely fashion if you are distributing it, as a precondition of using it. There are ways around source code distribution, but not for a commercial entity like HTC.
It’s important to note that HTC still claims to actively embrace the developer community; however, it has delayed releasing the kernel source code for months almost every single time a new OTA comes out, doing the bare minimum to stay legal. Failure to release the source code prevents kernel developers from fixing HTC’s issues and finding buried backdoors and tracking software like CIQ we saw years back.
What is interesting to note on the 3.15.651.16 build is that, unlike previous distributions I’ve seen in which everything contained in the archive was from months ago, some of the folders and data have been touched on Feb 21, 2013. Mostly, this looks like modifications to makefiles, but it does tend to indicate that HTC didn’t get around to making the GPL-required sources until two weeks ago.
Finally, after almost three months, we can see what we’ve been running on Sense and perhaps give the open source development world a leg-up on accessing some of the features that have not yet made a seamless transition to our AOSP ROMs.
You can obtain the source for yourself at the HTCDev official website.
Thanks Adam!
I am so surprised that they released 3.16!! I so thought they was gonna screw us and just release 3.15.. So happy!! Been waiting months for this!! now we can get some custom kernel!
3.15 was the initial JB release, right? Or not?
I’m just wondering if someone can tackle the GPS crashing issue, or maybe that’s a locked-down graphics binary issue
I don’t think it’s the GPS crashing, I think it’s google navigation crashing.
Here’s the test I did on it – chose to navigate home from work, put phone on charger, navigation popped open. It crashed within 10 minutes. 12 minutes into the thing the voice is still instructing me where to go.
I think it’s just Google made something wrong in maps/navigation… or the HTC task killer is going mental… it’s not just HTC devices this is happening on
I generically said GPS but yeah, it’s a rendering of the map while navigating issue, really. Navigation works perfectly fine in the background but it can’t handle when the map needs to be redrawn (which happens all the time while driving) or while panning around after you start.
Doesn’t this generally mean that HTC is going to be releasing an update to make these obsolete.
Just like they have in the past….
Possibly… I think this time it’s that they reached almost 90 days on the first one and figured might as well on the second