Difference between revisions of "Leste FAQ"
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=== What is Maemo Leste? === | |||
Maemo Leste is a GNU/Linux distribution aimed at mobile devices with touch screens: smartphones, tablets and PDAs. | |||
Maemo Leste is based on Devuan (and thus indirectly based on Debian), while it inherits a lot of packages from (the new very old) "Maemo Fremantle", the Nokia OS for the Nokia N900 internet tablet/phone. | |||
The mobile user interface is based on "Hildon" from Fremantle, as are various other packages (from Fremantle) -- some have been reversed engineered, others which were already open source have been updated to newer libraries and APIs. | |||
Maemo Leste aims to provide an unconstrained and free mobile distribution for hackers, developers and even just casual users. | |||
=== Why not add new packages to Fremantle instead? === | === Why not add new packages to Fremantle instead? === | ||
Fremantle is ancient, and quite a few packages are closed source and also outdated. Many are in dire need of a replacement, either for interopability sake (browser, wifi stack) or need a lot of updates to be even reasonably secure: ancient browser, unsupported crypto libraries, ancient Linux kernel are just a few. | |||
Beyond that, Fremantle was never truly "Debian" -- although it used a lot of the debian ecosystem. We realise that we do not have the time to maintain all kinds of core packages, so it made a lot of sense to base Maemo Leste on a modern and community-run distribution. | |||
Furthermore, adding lots of updated and new packages mixed together with the old Fremantle packages is likely to become a big hell. Old packages need an older glibc (even though it claims to be backwards compatible, it isn't always), other libraries might depend on other specific libraries). That will also make it very hard to keep track of what old and new packages are in place, we would still be stuck with many other outdated packages - permanently frozen kernel interface, and so forth. | |||
We went for a distribution based on Debian because would provide a clean base; and Fremantle already used a large part of the Debian ecosystem. | |||
=== Why is Maemo Leste based on Devuan rather than Debian? === | |||
Convenience for developers, and a little bit of politics (but this is not really noticable in the project). | |||
Fremantle used the (now abandoned) upstart init system. We initially chose Devuan because we figured Devuan might (and it does, afaik) support upstart to some degree as well, so we would not have to deal with rewriting the init scripts. | |||
But we ended up doing it anyway, and now Maemo Leste uses OpenRC. Another reason is that some people who initiated the project are either working on Devuan or are close with people who work on Devuan. | |||
=== Why do we need another mobile operating system? === | === Why do we need another mobile operating system? === | ||
What Maemo Leste hopes to bring to the table is a streamlined but otherwise unrestrained mobile OS. User freedom and hackability of the devices, while still having a usable OS. | |||
We aim to provide a "true" GNU/Linux experience by providing up to date packages, do not use vendor Linux kernels (only "vanilla"). | |||
=== Why is it important to run mainline Linux? === | === Why is it important to run mainline Linux? === | ||
=== Why | === Why won't you join the collaborative Halium project? === | ||
=== What's wrong with Android (vendor) kernels? === | |||
=== Will Maemo Leste work on ...(device)? === | === Will Maemo Leste work on ...(device)? === | ||
Our currently list of (semi) supported devices can be found here: [[:Category:Device]] | |||
Maemo Leste could work on your device, and we'd like to link you to a porting guide here, but we don't have one yet. | |||
Revision as of 23:18, 26 May 2018
This page or section is a stub. Ask how you can help improve leste.maemo.org by visiting #maemo-leste, look at the bugtracker (https://github.com/maemo-leste/bugtracker) or if you are able to contribute to the current page, then you are welcome to do so.
What is Maemo Leste?
Maemo Leste is a GNU/Linux distribution aimed at mobile devices with touch screens: smartphones, tablets and PDAs. Maemo Leste is based on Devuan (and thus indirectly based on Debian), while it inherits a lot of packages from (the new very old) "Maemo Fremantle", the Nokia OS for the Nokia N900 internet tablet/phone. The mobile user interface is based on "Hildon" from Fremantle, as are various other packages (from Fremantle) -- some have been reversed engineered, others which were already open source have been updated to newer libraries and APIs.
Maemo Leste aims to provide an unconstrained and free mobile distribution for hackers, developers and even just casual users.
Why not add new packages to Fremantle instead?
Fremantle is ancient, and quite a few packages are closed source and also outdated. Many are in dire need of a replacement, either for interopability sake (browser, wifi stack) or need a lot of updates to be even reasonably secure: ancient browser, unsupported crypto libraries, ancient Linux kernel are just a few.
Beyond that, Fremantle was never truly "Debian" -- although it used a lot of the debian ecosystem. We realise that we do not have the time to maintain all kinds of core packages, so it made a lot of sense to base Maemo Leste on a modern and community-run distribution.
Furthermore, adding lots of updated and new packages mixed together with the old Fremantle packages is likely to become a big hell. Old packages need an older glibc (even though it claims to be backwards compatible, it isn't always), other libraries might depend on other specific libraries). That will also make it very hard to keep track of what old and new packages are in place, we would still be stuck with many other outdated packages - permanently frozen kernel interface, and so forth.
We went for a distribution based on Debian because would provide a clean base; and Fremantle already used a large part of the Debian ecosystem.
Why is Maemo Leste based on Devuan rather than Debian?
Convenience for developers, and a little bit of politics (but this is not really noticable in the project).
Fremantle used the (now abandoned) upstart init system. We initially chose Devuan because we figured Devuan might (and it does, afaik) support upstart to some degree as well, so we would not have to deal with rewriting the init scripts. But we ended up doing it anyway, and now Maemo Leste uses OpenRC. Another reason is that some people who initiated the project are either working on Devuan or are close with people who work on Devuan.
Why do we need another mobile operating system?
What Maemo Leste hopes to bring to the table is a streamlined but otherwise unrestrained mobile OS. User freedom and hackability of the devices, while still having a usable OS.
We aim to provide a "true" GNU/Linux experience by providing up to date packages, do not use vendor Linux kernels (only "vanilla").
Why is it important to run mainline Linux?
Why won't you join the collaborative Halium project?
What's wrong with Android (vendor) kernels?
Will Maemo Leste work on ...(device)?
Our currently list of (semi) supported devices can be found here: Category:Device
Maemo Leste could work on your device, and we'd like to link you to a porting guide here, but we don't have one yet.
