Symbian releases first fully open source package
Published: 10 July, 2009
READ MORE: Symbian
Symbian can hardly match Google Chrome OS in impact factor, but it has been making steady progress this week, promising the beta release of its first open source version, Symbian^2, over the summer, and now releasing its first open software product, the OS Security Package.
This sets out the stall for putting the whole OS and stack into the open source process, and proves the new Foundation is not all talk. The package, like other aspects of the Symbian OS, will be distributed under the Eclipse Public License (EPL), overseen by the Foundation, which was set up by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, DoCoMo, Texas Instruments, Vodafone, Samsung, LG and AT&T.
Symbian developer Craig Heath wrote on a blog: "The OS Security Package source code is now available under the EPL, and it is the very first package to be officially moved from the closed Symbian Foundation License to the EPL." The EPL allows the security package to bypass export regulations on cryptographic products from the UK, Symbian's home base, under public licensing rules.
More importantly, at least in the near term, is to demonstrate that Symbian is serious about openness and security. Next up will be an open source version of the kernel, plus basic components and drivers, and later higher level elements, such as user interfaces, will follow. The higher up the stack the effort goes, the more complex it becomes in terms of drawing in a range of third party products and negotiating rights with companies that formerly had commercial rights within Symbian - an obstacle that the Foundation's 'catalyst and futurist' (aka CTO) David Wood admitted this week had dragged out the process of releasing Symbian^2 for longer than hoped.
Symbian's chief architect Daniel Rubio said in another blog post that he thinks it will take three months to get the kernel and other essential components completed under EPL - "it has to be accompanied by all other components and drivers to run a shell with full I/O - for example, a board support package, a hardware vehicle and, of course, a freely available toolchain."
Before that, there will be beta release of Symbian ^2, a complete new OS based on version 9 of the current proprietary product and integrating the three main Symbian UI platforms - Nokia Series 60, UIQ and DoCoMo's MOAP. Symbian then expects to release a new version of the OS every six months, with Symbian ^3 planned for early 2010, according to ZDnet.com.
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