Dell releases Streak GPL sources

The Dell Streak tablet.

After complaints from users, Dell has now released the modified source code from the version of Android that runs on its Streak tablet. Over the summer, complaints had mounted that Dell had not released its changes to the GPL-licensed components, including the Linux kernel, that make up the tablet's operating system. After a period of silence, at the end of August Dell said it would address the issue. Dell have now released the source code, which includes the Linux kernel, BlueZ Bluetooth stack, the WLAN WPA supplicant, WebKit web browser and JPEG Library.

Harald Welte, known within the open source community for his work with gpl-violations.org, wrote on his blog that it was unfortunate that pressure had to be brought to bear on Dell before it complied with the terms of the GPL and released the source code with its changes. Welte asks to be informed if anyone believes there are any omissions in the published code.

Dell announced the Android based mini-tablet in January at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show and released the device in the UK in June. The Streak has a 5 inch display with a 800 by 480 touch screen and according to Dell is intended to fill the gap between a smartphone and a larger internet tablet. It uses an ARM based Qualcomm SnapDragon 8250 processor running at 1 GHz and ships with Android version 1.6; an upgrade to 2.1 became available recently.

(trk)