[MANDATORY] Rules / Moderator Announcements etc

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THIS FORUM IS ONLY FOR RELEASING AND DEVELOPING ROMS AND KERNELS.


SOME GUIDES REGARDING S-OFF AND FLASHING WILL BE ALLOWED BUT MOST WILL BE LINKED IN A REFERENCE THREAD. "COLLECTIONS", "REFERENCES" AND "LIBRARIES" BELONG IN GENERAL SECTION.

• Try to keep the development forum CLEAN! No offtopic posting and no questions.
• Use the report button in an offending post to let us mods know we need to take action. Dont take matters into your own hands!!!
• Sources need to be posted for all kernels!!!
• You need to use TAGS like [ROM] or [KERNEL] and so on as used in all dev forums throughout XDA
• Any disputes between developers should be handled by pm. No public posting in a dev thread regarding these matters
• Rom issues should be discussed within their respective threads
• Thread titles should ALWAYS coincide with ROMS ALREADY AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!!! No advance notification of incoming ROM through thread title. A changelog for the yet unreleased Rom can be included in the OP or in another post CLEARLY MARKED as EXPECTED CHANGELOG
• Posting in the development section means automatic ACCEPTANCE of the above Rules

All posts that are NOT about ROM development, or development in general will be closed or deleted and posters that will choose to disregard the previous guidelines will be infracted.

Quote of 12aon's GPL Thread

A little introduction

Recently in several Android fora on XDA-Developers, it has come to the attention of the moderator team that there have been issues regarding developers’ compliance with the GPL. This post aims to clarify the position of XDA on the use of GPL sources, particularly in the development of Android kernels.

Without the GPL, the Android operating system would likely never have come about. Through the work of Linus Torvalds, the Linux kernel was made open source for all to use, share and modify. As Android runs on the Linux kernel, and features numerous modifications to these sources, it would not exist in its present state without the Open Source community.

As a result, it is in the interests of everyone who owns an Android phone, who wishes to see further development on the platform, to ensure that they play their part in upholding both the letter and spirit of the GPL.

The GNU General Public Licence (also known as the GPL) is available to read in full at www.gnu.org

To make it easy for everyone to spot a release that complies with the GPL mark the title of your release thread with [GPL]. If you find a ROM which does not comply with the GPL, or the developer does not issue sources, you can report the post as usual, using the report post button next to the post number. Alternatively you may PM your forum specific moderator.


The Rules as they apply on XDA

As XDA has no legal power to uphold the GPL (and frankly we want to stay as far away from doing so as possible), we can’t force any of our users to abide by the GPL. However it is in XDA’s interests as well as the interests of our developer-base to ensure all GPL-derived materials hosted or linked on XDA comply fully with the GPL.

1. GPL-derived materials that do not come with the complete sources used to compile the GPL components are considered warez, and will be treated as such under forum rule 6 and 9.
2. If you use GPL components, but do not make any modifications to them whatsoever, you should provide a link to the original source of your GPL code.
3. Sources accompanying a release should be complete, and contain all the necessary source code for any modules, scripts or definition files. Complete sources will be defined as those which compile correctly and completely against the platform for which the software is distributed, and which contain any and all modifications made to the released General Public Licenced code. The source code supplied should be the exact version for which the source code is being requested, complete with all modifications.

EXAMPLE: Here’s a bit of code that could be used as a template to post your releases

<Kernel Or Author Name> <Kernel Nr>:
<Source>|<ReadMe>|<Credits>|<Other>

The Very Quick Summary of General Public License (GPL)

The text of the GPL Licence itself will be used to reach any final conclusion regarding any disputes over GPL Licenced materials. The above is a summary of what XDA expects of members using GPL code, and the complete text can be read at the GNU website.



The GPL states that anyone who modifies GPL licenced code is required to make available the sources used to compile it. This is to further improve and encourage collaborative work, as well as to ensure that the best code possible is produced, and to encourage peer-review of all work. This benefits both developers and end users in numerous ways, including:

• Allowing anyone to verify the code they are trusting with their data, and its authenticity
• Encouraging community collaboration to produce faster fixes and updates, and better code
• Helping bring new developments from other devices and fields to your own, letting you benefit from new code that wouldn’t have been available without this sharing.
• The GPL imparts great freedom for GPL end users. It ensures innovation is never stifled and no project is dependent upon any single developer.

It is in everyone’s interest for the GPL to be adhered to, as it gives us all better ROMs, better transparency, and a better atmosphere for developers to work together to make great code.

Just a reminder of some old rules that seem to be forgotten. We are not out to make the dev's lives harder or to be a pain in the neck. XDA has had issues in the past from kanging to malicious code in kernel's. They are based on the GPL and you are free to modify and distribute, however you must share your changes and cannot charge for your work. (my summary of the GPL). That's why when we distribute a kernel in a rom, we fall under the GPL guidelines and have to follow some simple rules to keep XDA and our members out of trouble. Thanks again to all the Dev's for your understanding and outstanding contributions.

Anyone providing a ROM with a Kernel include should mention and link what kernel is used.
This means either:

• Stock kernel is used (OP has to say that)
• OP uses a 3rd party kernel (from another user), then he has say that and link to the thread)
• OP uses his own kernel in which case he has to upload sources as per GPL and XDA rules and link them. (Please note: sometimes only the ram disk of a stock kernel is modified, this does NOT fall under the GPL. Example: Making a stock kernel 'insecure')

Concerning GAPPS: CM and some other were asked by google to NOT include them. But only those parties. Everyone else can include them unless asked by the owner (ie Google) to remove them.
This also means in theory that everyone with a CM kang can include GAPPS, however most people don't (which is obviously fine too)
I don't think any OEM ROM was ever forced to remove GAPPS.

Noellenchris
XDA Forum MOD

[GUIDE] 06-04-2013 Guide to writing a thread naming correctly

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THREAD NAMING

The purpose of this thread is explain how you can name threads in forums making their content easier to read and understand.

FOR the DEVELOPMENT Sections:

• [INDEX] - Index for a specific device which can group together development subjects such as ROMs / Kernels / tools / etc.
• [DEV] - Development for any projects.
• [ROM] - Custom ROMs.
• [KERNEL] - Custom Kernels.
• [MOD] - Hack & Modifications for the phone.
• [FIX] - Fixes for known issues & bugs.
• [GUIDE] - Guides related to android development.
• [TOOL] - Dev Tool.
• [RECOVERY] - Custom Recoveries.
• [RADIO] - All radios for a specific device

The title of the thread must also include this in a chronological order:

• [Tag] - ROM, FIX, MOD etc.
• [Date] - Date of latest version
• [Name of the ROM]
• [Android version] - 4.0, Sense, aokp etc.
• [CDMA/GSM] - If the ROM is only for CDMA - GSM - 4G LTE - 3G - WIFI use the tag.

EXAMPLE:

[ROM][18 JUL] ROM name [SENSE][4.0][CDMA]

If you are unsure where your new topic should go, then please post it in General.

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• Please Include Screenshots for ROM / MOD / THEME / Apps & Games, when possible as it's expected by our members.
• Placeholder threads posted in the development section will be removed.
• Howto's and Guides should be posted in the general section.
• Password must be provided for all password protected files.

Please respect these simple rules, and if you don’t respect them, your thread will be closed or deleted