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tags: Replicant news, Paul Kocialkowski
date: 2011-08-14T15:18:16+00:00
title: Nexus S support in Replicant being worked on
authors: Paul Kocialkowski
---
A few month ago, we (Replicant developers) decided to start the work on the
new Google Nexus S.
This device seemed an interesting target at first since it doesn't have any
technical restriction to flash a non-official operating system and kernel but
also as it comes with the latest (free) version of Android, Gingerbread. Of
course, even if Android Gingerbread is free, the device requires non-free bits
(libraries, binaries, firmwares, etc) to actually use the full potential of
the hardware.
The work was started at the end of July and the 100% free images of Replicant
2.3 that run on the device already contain a set of supported features. You
can get a detailed state of the Nexus S support in Replicant at
<http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/ReplicantStatus#nexuss>. All the
source code is, as usual, available in Replicant's [gitorious repos][1].
Though, we still miss a big part: the RIL, that is necessary for telephony.
We soon discovered that the hardware of the Nexus S was made in a way that
gives better freedom guarantees than other Replicant-supported phones. You can
read a rational concerning this aspect of the phone, along with a technical
overview of the device at
<http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/NexusSTechnicalOverview>.
Also, whereas the bootloaders for the other Replicant-supported devices are
all non-free, it may be possible to port a free bootloader (u-boot for
instance) to the Nexus S. A wiki page that comes with all the infos we have
about this is at:
<http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/NexusSBootloader>.
The next important steps in the Nexus S support are the following (in no
particular order):
* find out if a free bootloader is possible for Nexus S and start the work
on it
* write a free RIL so that we can use the telephony functions
and, when that is achieved:
* release official preview images
* replace the last replaceable non-free bits (GPS and compass for instance)
As usual, we are looking for new hackers to join the effort to bring some more
bits of freedom to the mobile phone world.
[1]: <http://gitorious.org/replicant>
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