Freescale HAL licencing + processor selection help

[Chris Johns]

On 17/06/2015 3:01 am, Gedare Bloom wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 12:51 PM, Isaac Gutekunst
> <isaac.gutekunst at vecna.com> wrote:
>> Do you have any advise when talking to ST? I will ask if it is possible to
>> release the HAL code separately, or to clarify the licencing.
>>
> Chris Johns has had some direct interactions with vendors about this
> problem before and might have advice.
> 

Isaac, please feel free to include me on any discussions on the topic.
If you talk to your FAE and get a suitable contact name at ST and you do
not wish to take this on please send me the details and I will look into it.

My experience is these things take time and it is about informing and
highlighting the issues their licenses create.

> One way to get started is to see if they already provide some
> suitably-licensed code for Linux. A lot of vendors do so already
> because of market reasons, but don't realize how this problem affects
> smaller market segments like RTOSs.

Yes this is a strange situation. Xilinx is a good example of how they
support the development of open GPL code for Linux for their chips and
then they use a restrictive license on the SDK/BSP code that is
functionally equivalent and better suited to us. Same company, same
funding source, same devices but very difficult outcomes.

> While I haven't been in any of these talks, from what I have heard the
> main sticking point seems to be that vendors are hesitant to release
> code that might possibly be useful on competitors' products. For HALs
> and drivers, this hesitancy makes little sense, so being convincing
> about how the code can possibly be used (i.e. it really is only useful
> to drive their boards) may help. And, again, it can help if you can
> point to other drivers the vendors may have released for Linux or
> other mainstream OS.

This can be true and tends to reflect internal corporate structures in
companies than technical reasons. Bringing about change here takes time
and patience. I am always positive chip companies want to make and sell
devices and we just need to keep reminding them their actions negatively
effect us directly and them indirectly.

Chris