Open Source Practice of LG Electronics
Hyo Jun Im Software Platform Laboratory, LG Electronics Introduction to LG Electronics
LG Electronics is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances. Overview
This presentation covers both the open source compliance and open source engagement
Compliance
LG Community
Engagement Open Source Compliance
How LG Electronics built the open source compliance process from scratch. Steps for Building Up Open Source Compliance Process
| Kick-starting open source compliance
| Raising awareness
| Setting up the process
| Filling holes in the process
| Efficient open source compliance Kick-starting Open Source Compliance
| Challenges > Lack of knowledge on open source compliance > Lack of verification tools
| What we did > Just rushed into writing the open source software notice in the user manual > Manual open source identification and verification
| What we got > Basic knowledge of popular open source licenses > Need for automated verification tools > Knowledge on practical issues with open source compliance Raising Awareness
| Introduction to relevant lawsuit case
| Online / Offline training
| Escalation of the open source compliance issues to management
| Help from outside experts Industry Lawsuit Case
• 2006 Set the precedent that the sale of a product can be prohibited
2007 • Distributors can be held responsible, and lawsuits filed against them
• 2008 Similar to the case with Skype
• 2010 Forced to give TVs to charity organizations as well as pay a penalty Online Training Setting up the Process
| Verification Tool
| Getting the open source compliance process into the product development process
| Engagement from the legal department
| Corporate-wide standard rules and processes
| Monitoring
| Training of the people involved in open source compliance Internal Workshop Monthly Newsletters and Documents Internal Information Site Filling Holes in the Process
rd | 3 party software
| OEM / ODM products
| Conflict with the business
| Non-Linux products
| Organizations left out of the process
Need one focal point in charge of open source compliance Efficient Open Source Compliance
| Distribution Site
| Verification Automation
| Accumulating knowledge and claims Open Source Distribution Site
http:/ / opensource.lge.com
- Statistics concerning open source distribution - which categories or products are downloaded the most Open Source Compliance Process in General
| Linux Foundation’s recommended compliance process
A Glimpse Into Recommended Practices in a FOSS Compliance Management Process Ibrahim Haddad, The Linux Foundation LGE’s Open Source Compliance Process
| Outline commonly used corporate process
| Business units optimize the process to fit their specific needs Recent Issues
| Ambiguous licenses
| Errors in the original open source software
| Non-Linux products
Direct communication with customers and community is important
Just answer the phone! (quote by Professor Eben Moglen) Open Source Engagement
How LG Electronics is engaged in open source development. Steps for Open Source Engagement
| Encouraging engineers
| Getting consensus from management
| Dealing with fragmentation Encouraging Engineers
| Motivating engineers > Engineers can learn a lot from kernel experts worldwide > Individuals (not companies) are appreciated from the community > Less burden on maintaining
| Rewarding contributors > Acknowledge by the boss or organization > Open Source Newbie Award Getting Consensus from Management
| Highlight the short-term and practical benefits
| Appealing corporate-wide benefits from open source engagement > Capability building for essential open source software > Low maintenance cost > Catching up with the latest version of the open source > Reviews by gurus improve software quality
| Persuading management > Talk with the specific numbers and cases > Getting help from outside experts Dealing with the Fragmentation
| Causes of fragmentation > Different source of original open source > Fragmentation by individual developers > Fragmentation by different organizations
| Dealing with fragmentation > No magic bullet > Active information sharing among developers > Maintaining list of patches rather than whole tree > Internal open source repository > Upstreaming Android Case
kernel.org Kernel / BSP
Base model
OS vendor
Derived models
Chipset vendors
LTSI is the initiative to reduce fragmentation Open Source Repository
| Internal open source repository > Internal source tree for open source software > Patches made by each product team are merged into the repository > Staging area for candidate patches to be submitted to community
Open Repository source
Open Open Open source source source
Product A Product B Product C Case Study: SCSI Subsystem
| Problem description > Kernel panic on sudden detach of USB storage device in TV > Caused by the race condition in SCSI subsystem
| Working with the community > Developed a simple patch and applied to the product > Submitted the patch to LKML > Bart Van Assche further developed the patch (with 9 patches) > Zhuang, Jin Can of Intel fixed a potential problem with the patch
| Getting benefits from community > Later on, we found another kernel panic on sudden detach of USB device > By applying the community patch, we fixed the problem!! LG’s Kernel Contributions
| LG Electronics is actively contributing to Linux kernel since 2012 > Some full-time Linux contributors
| Contributions are focused on the core kernel > mm: vrange, per-process reclaim, slub, zram improvements, … > perf: perf trace, event group view, ftrace integration, …
Kernel version 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 28 52 47 98 46 Contributions (0.2%) (0.4%) (0.4%) (0.8%) (0.3%) Core kernel 27 48 41 97 42 contributions * (1.7%) (3.0%) (3.4%) (5.3%) (2.7%)
* core kernel: kernel mm tools fs Issues with Linux Contribution
| Time difference
| Language barrier
| Time-to-market
| Alignment with business
| Explaining embedded-specific issues to the community Thank You!
| Thank you, kernel community > for making such a great OS and enabling us to make innovative products > for reviewing patches and giving us valuable feedback > for steadily maintaining kernel with high quality
| Thank you, Linux Foundation > for your effort to protect and grow Linux > for holding various events for kernel developers > for giving us insight on the value of open source