Does it make sense to ask Blackberry to re-license ancient QNX sources?

4 points | by ymz5 23 hours ago

2 comments

  • ksherlock 20 hours ago

    Once upon a time (2007!), QNX made their source code available under a read-only type license. When Blackberry bought them (2010), source code access was shut off.

    That was 16 years ago so maybe their opinion on the matter has changed. But they make money (or at least try to) selling a commercial license for QNX so an unrestricted free/open license seems unlikely.

    • ymz5 18 hours ago

      "read-only type license" -- that's a bit too strong wording.

      OTTAWA, September 12, 2007 — [...] QNX Software Systems today announced that it is opening access to the source code of its QNX® Neutrino® realtime operating system (RTOS) under a new hybrid software licensing arrangement.

      Effective immediately, QNX will make source code for its [...] microkernel-based OS available for download. The first source release includes the code to the QNX Neutrino microkernel, the base C library, and a variety of board support packages (BSPs) for popular embedded and computing hardware.

      Not only can developers view the QNX Neutrino source code, but they can improve, modify, or extend that code for their own purposes or for the QNX community at large.

    • davydm 22 hours ago

      if you're interested in extending, sure

      otoh, i'm not - everything has to die sometime

      that doesn't mean you have to feel the same - so go for it