02-14-2016, 07:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-15-2016, 12:43 PM by MichaelMeissner.)
(02-14-2016, 05:41 PM)SkairkrohBule Wrote: What do you think are the main, salient issues that should be mentioned?Well, I'm sure others have their own questions, but for me, the biggest question is can people WHO HAVE NOT SIGNED NDAs get access to ALL documentation to all of the bits on pine64, such that they could write drivers from scratch for each of the parts. This includes, but is not limited to:
- How to put the processor into the various sleep modes and wake up from it;
- How to program the GPU so that 3D optimization can be done by the graphics program;
- How to display HDMI/MSI video;
- How to access ALL of the peripherials on the board (USB, i2c, real time clock, ethernet, spi, UART, etc.).
Binary blobs are really not acceptable in the Linux space. It is better to have full documentation and a clean driver than depend on a given binary blob.
In addition, you need to start working with other Linux developers so that your changes can eventually be merged back into the master sources. As I said before, it is not a case where you can just dump something in, and then abandon it, you have to be prepared to support it down the road.
<edit Feb. 15, 2016>
The pine64 team should issue a realistic assessment of what will work in Linux when so that we can judge what we want to order from the backerkit. For example, will pine64 run at all with a custom distribution when it starts shipping in March (using binary blobs perhaps, and not accelerated)? Will it support running X via an HDMI display? How about the LCD add-on that uses the MSI connector (including touch support)? How about the wifi/bluetooth add-on? How about ethernet? Do you have a realistic timeline for when the additional features will be added?
