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By Chris Meadows

As reported here a few days ago, Amazon recently released a bundle of source code for the Kindle DX. This has led to some confusion in the blogging community (including, perhaps, here) about what the source code release means.

Ars Technica clears up the confusion in its usual informative way. The source code released is not the entire source code for the Kindle, but rather the code of changes to the open portions of the Kindle that Amazon is required to release by the terms of the GPL (GNU Public License, the license under which most components of Linux are released), and has been doing since 2007. It is not possible to take this code and replicate the Kindle, nor is it possible to install modified firmware onto the Kindle itself.

The use of open-source software such as Linux on closed devices has long annoyed the Free Software Foundation, which has attempted to prevent the practice in its controversial GPL version 3. However, this stricter license has not gained universal acceptance. It is most notably opposed by Linus Torvalds, maintainer and namesake of the Linux kernel.

On one hand, it is a pity that the Kindle remains an entirely closed platform. On the other, Amazon is at least making it easier for the open source community to get the code changes than most companies that use open source in closed products.

 
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