Replicant

= Replicant =

This Trac site is for the Replicant project.  The goal of Replicant is simple: to make a software stack, or multiple software stacks, that will run the HTC-series of mobile telephones with 100% Free Software.

As many know, the HTC Dream and related devices were released with the Android system from Google.  This system is based on the kernel, Linux, and has a software stack written by Google (called "Android") that runs on Linux.

Most of Android is licensed freely under the Apache License 2.0.  The Linux core is mostly Free Software under the GPLv2.  However, there are numerous components of the default software stack on the HTC Dream that are proprietary software.  Most notably, nearly any component that touches the hardware directly is proprietary software.

Our effort has two parallel goals:

  * Make an Android-based distribution for the HTC Dream (and possibly other devices released by HTC and other manufacturers) that is 100% Free Software.

  * Make a GNU/Linux system similar to that available on the [http://www.freesmartphone.org/ FreeRunner/OpenMoko] also available for the HTC Dream and similar platforms.

We are not experts in embedded devices; we are just enthusiastic hackers that are giving a try.  We just got this Trac instance up, graciously donated by [http://osuosl.org OSU-OSL].  We will get some git repositories of what we're doing up shortly, and also improve this Trac Wiki to document what we are up to.

We are coordinating our work with [http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/LibrePlanet:LibrePlanetItalia/replicant LibrePlanet Italia] and with the [http://openandroidalliance.com/ Open Android Alliance].

== Why Is a 100% Free Android Stack Necessary? ==

The developers who started working on Replicant believe that freedom is an important end in itself -- that software developers should respect the rights of users to share and modify the software they use.  But the importance of freedom is made particularly evident by the example of Google G1/ADP1 (the first commercial Android phone).  While most of the software running on the phone is free, and can be distributed by anyone, some components are proprietary.  In addition to the dispensable "Google Experience" applications, such as GMail and Google Maps, these components include several libraries and drivers necessary for interfacing with the phone's hardware.  ([wiki:HTCDreamProprietaryDrivers Here is a full list.])  Since these components are not free software, the user community cannot redistribute them.  And since some of them are necessary to make the phone work, the user community can't share working firmwares.

== The Code ==

We currently have the code hosted [http://gitorious.org/replicant at gitorious].  FIXME: describe what branch is what here.

== Mailing List ==

The project currently has [http://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant one mailing list for all discussion, run by GNU Mailman].

== GNU/Linux Port Status ==

[http://www.htc-linux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Dream#Status This page is probably of interest.]

== The 100% Free Android Stack ==

 * The status: [wiki:AndroidStatus]

 * Here's how to build your image: [wiki:BuildAndroid]

 * Here's how to install your image [wiki:InstallAndroid]

 * [wiki:ListOfKnownFreeSoftwareApps We're building a list of all known Free Software applications for the Android platform].

== A libre Market application ==

We also need a fully free software market application because Google Market is proprietary software.

We know a couple of ways of doing it:

* [http://apktor.gotoinit.com/ APKtor]

* Slideme 1.0 codebase

=== APKtor ===

We will write here how to contribute to apktor to build a libre market app.

=== FLOSS Dispenser and JVending ===

 * We're working an a free software market for Android called FLOSS Dispenser based on SlideME 1.0CE.  

  * [http://gitorious.org/replicant/floss-dispenser Source code]

  * [wiki:BuildFLOSSDispenser Build instructions]

 * FLOSS Dispenser is designed to work with JVending, an implementation of the J2EE Client Provisioning Specification.

  * [http://gitorious.org/replicant/jvending Source code] for our fork

  * [wiki:BuildAndDeployJVending Build instructions] and deployment information

== IRC ==

We meet on an IRC channel, #replicant on irc.freenode.net.

== Starting Points for Using Trac ==

 * TracGuide --  Built-in Documentation

 * [http://trac.edgewall.org/ The Trac project] -- Trac Open Source Project

 * [http://trac.edgewall.org/wiki/TracFaq Trac FAQ] -- Frequently Asked Questions

 * TracSupport --  Trac Support

For a complete list of local wiki pages, see TitleIndex.