Raspberry Pi Stack Exchange
Raspberry Pi Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [open-source]

Open-source software is software with the source code being freely available, so that users can access, modify, and re-distribute it. Typically used in collaborative development (e.g. Linux and GNU).

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Level of Hackability of raspberry pi

I have been working with embedded systems (mostly micro controllers) for about 3 years. I want to know how much of RPi of actually open source?? I know arduino gives us complete details of hardware /software etc. But what about RPi? This is…
deepak
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How free is Raspberry Pi?

Is it legal to freely manufacture, distribute and modify Raspberry Pi? Does Raspberry Pi have a license? Are the hardware documentations and specs available to the public? Are there any restrictions on the usage?
Adam Matan
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24
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1 answer

Raspberry Pi Zero usable with fully free software?

In the Free Software Foundation's May 2013 review of single board computers, the Raspberry Pi was found to have fatal flaws for use in a free (libre) software environment: The Raspberry Pi requires nonfree software to start up. It can't reach the…
user37294
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4 answers

How is Raspberry Pi "open source" if it uses ARM?

All I've ever heard about Raspberry Pi is that its an "open source" SoC. But I see that the CPU inside the BroadCom SoC is an ARM chip. My understanding of open source hardware is that every single hardware component on it has to be open source in…
smeeb
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Is the BCM2835 (Broadcom SoC) proprietary to the Raspberry Pi organization?

I ask because assuming someone wanted to manufacture their own (large) batch of RPi's, the major component that would be most difficult to procure is the Broadcom SoC (see here.) If obtaining this chip isn't possible or is extremely difficult, are…
RLH
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17
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Where can I find the schematics and supporting design documents for the hardware?

I've tried to search for this online, but other than a few posts on the Raspberry Pi blog, I can't find an official source of the design documentation for the hardware. It was my understanding that the entire project is Open Sourced. Is this…
RLH
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Raspberry Pi 3 usable with fully free software?

In the Free Software Foundation's May 2013 review of single board computers, the Raspberry Pi was found to have fatal flaws for use in a free (libre) software environment: The Raspberry Pi requires nonfree software to start up. It can't reach the…
user37294
6
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1 answer

Raspberry Pi Compute Module Product Open Source License Considerations

I am planning on selling a product based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. It runs standard Raspbian, with several 'non-default' software packages installed using 'apt-get install', and the GUI is written in Qt 5.5. My incomplete understanding is…
PhilBot
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What firmware parts non opensource (yet)?

What parts of the RaspberryPi (A,B,B+) are not open-source (yet)? I mean any part of the device which requires some kind of software to run.
user3200534
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Raspbian: Download sources of older packages

I want to sell embedded devices powered by Raspberry Pis and Raspbian (without the non-free software). I want to distribute the sources of the os distribution with the devices (mainly to satisfy GPL requirements). How can I download all the source…
Pascal Rosin
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Installing dependancies

I am trying to build some packages from source and I get messages that say I need the following: -glib2 (DONE) (apt-get install glib-2.6) -directfb -libpng -m4 (TRIED) I got this installed but still get a message that it is missing. libtool.m4 not…
mrhobbeys
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Open Source Raspberry Pi software and SD card libraries

I understand that Raspberry-Pi uses most open source software. I was not able to find the software stack that is used to access the SD card over SD protocol in the Raspberry-Pi although I did carry out a search on the internet. In the Raspberry…
Denis
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How can I use the free version of Qt to create a GUI for the Raspberry Pi?

I am working on a project that requires high-medium quality GUI. I am thinking of cross compiling from Windows to Raspberry Pi or from Ubuntu to Raspberry Pi. Also, I do not know which one of those options is better. It seems that we can not get the…
andrexstack
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Kernels running SCHED_FIFO and SCHED_RR scheduling policies respectively for Raspberry Pi 3

I want to create two kernels for the Raspberry Pi 3. One running all the processes with only the SCHED_FIFO policy, the second running the processes with only the SCHED_RR policy. Can somebody help me with the function's modifications I must do in…
Piyuu
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Why did the makers of the Pi have an entirely new game made (minecraft-pi)?

minecraft-pi comes with the free Raspbian OS, i.e. is free. Minecraft is not an open source game, and is quite probably a trademark. what I would like to know, is why they made a new, non-open-source game, when there is a perfectly usable similar…
Mark Gardner
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