Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQs
Unlike other efforts in the market that are only focusing on creating APIs or standard interfaces for the mobile Linux environment, the LiMo Foundation is collaboratively developing a commercial platform that its members can deploy across devices, networks and a variety of mobile operating environments. LiMo will augment its effort by providing common APIs and SDKs to enable broad usage and adoption of LiMo’s technical output.
LiMo Foundation will deliver a commercial-grade mobile Linux operating system for its members, along with APIs and SDKs that can be accessed by members and non-members alike.
Yes. LiMo Foundation is uniquely funded and structured to have an independent program office and staff that will help manage and maintain the organizations development and technical output. The program office is headquartered in London (UK).
Procedural/Membership FAQs
All members are eligible to lead and/or participate in working groups by invitation from that council.
The Requirements Council consists of 17 representatives, consisting of Founder and Core members and also including 2 Associate members. A percentage of the RC seats held by Core Members are rotated each year, based on votes by the membership at large. Note that the Associate seats on the Requirements Council have been filled by existing members; these seats will become available through a member-at-large vote on the two-year anniversary of the Foundation (commencing late 2008).
The Architecture Council consists of 17 representatives from Founder and Core member companies. A percentage of the AC seats will be rotated each year, based on votes from the membership at large.
There are 13 seats on the Board of Directors and Executive Council which are filled by Founder and Core members. The Founder members have an automatic seat on both the Board and the Executive Council. Core Board seats are voted upon annually by the membership at large per procedures detailed in LiMo’s bylaws.
Overall strategy and guidance is set up by the Board of Directors and executed by the Executive Council. Under their leadership the Architecture Council guides the technical output and development of the Foundation, based on requirements established by the Requirements Council, and implemented by individual Working Groups. The Foundation Program office, as managed by LiMo’s Executive Director, gives strategic guidance and support to all LiMo activities, including R&D, marketing and membership development.
In general, Core members have broader leadership and participation opportunities; however, LiMo’s structure does enable Associate members to access and modify the LiMo code and also to contribute to LiMo workgroups that develop the platform frameworks. A distinguishing difference between the two membership classes is that Core members are allowed to commercially distribute the common LiMo code with their products.
Yes, LiMo membership is open to any organization that wishes to better understand, support and/or contribute to the efforts of the Foundation.
Platform FAQs
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The R1 version of the LiMo Platform was intentionally limited in scope in order to validate LiMo’s collaborative development model and also to kick-start commercial development and certification of first-generation LiMo handsets; as such, it featured a limited number of middleware frameworks which were contributed by only the Founder members of LiMo. By contrast, R2 is much broader in functionality – including framework support for advanced multimedia, internet and security services– and was open to contributions from LiMo’s diverse membership of 50+ companies.
The latest public information on Limo’s architecture plans and strategy can be found on the “Platform Technical Information” section of our website. If your company is interested in joining LiMo Foundation, please contact us via email at membership@limofoundation.org to arrange a more in-depth briefing on our technology and roadmap.
Yes, LiMo Foundation has developed a testing and certification program to ensure consistent implementations of the LiMo Foundation platform. This program evolves over time, and is managed by the LiMo Foundation Program Office.
The LiMo code base is maintained in a secure environment, as managed by the Foundation Program Office.
The LiMo Foundation code base is contributed by members and integrated under the supervision of the Architecture Council and its working groups. Members contributing code and IP have a variety of licensing grant options; an overview of which is outlined in the LiMo Foundation IPR Guide, which can be downloaded from the LiMo Foundation website. The full Intellectual Property Policy of LiMo Foundation, which governs contributions, can also be downloaded from the LiMo Foundation website.
The Common Code comprises the architecture modules that have been approved by the Architecture Council for inclusion in the Foundation Platform and that are required to be part of every Foundation-certified device. The Non-Common Code comprises modules that have been approved by the Architecture Council for inclusion in the Foundation Platform but that are not required to be included in an implementation of the Foundation Platform in order for such implementation to be compliant with Foundation specifications.
In practice, Common Code will include functionality that will be required in the majority of implementations, while Non-Common Code may include device, geography, or application-specific functionality.
Handset FAQs
To date, LiMo has announced 2 handsets based on the second release (R2) of the platform - the Vodafone 360 H1 and the Vodafone 360 M1, both manufactured by Samsung. Both devices have been shipped in several European markets in the run-up to Christmas.
There are currently over 42 LiMo handset models that have come to market. More handsets based on the LiMo R1 and LiMo R2 platform are expected to reach market in the second half of 2009.
The market’s desire for mobile Linux devices spans borders and device types – LiMo’s platform will be suitable for mass-market phones as well as feature phones.
Developer FAQs
BONDI is an initiative by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) whose aim is to consistently and securely open up access from web applications to device and network resident capabilities. The BONDI activity is defining the key mobile interfaces which are currently not standardised, but present the best opportunities for developers to provide great mobile web services. These interfaces are then made available through a security framework that can be readily managed to maximise the protection of the user and that can be most applicable to the type of user. The interfaces which have been specified include messaging, location, phone status, gallery, camera, application settings and Personal Information Manager (PIM). By enabling access in a consistent manner to these interfaces, BONDI is providing the developer with the ability to produce new web applications which will be capable of running across different devices and platforms.
LiMo has initiated the LiMo BONDI SDK project in an effort to develop and maintain an open source Web SDK based on the BONDI specifications. The objective of this project is to create an SDK that enables development of Web applications and widgets that can run across all mobile handsets that support a BONDI-compliant Web runtime. The BONDI SDK project is being sponsored by the LiMo Foundation. More information can be found here:http://bondisdk.limofoundation.org/
Developers will have 4 possible routes to market:
- Embedded software for the phone makers who are members of LiMo (make or buy decisions)
- 3rd Party applications to be sold to the phone makers for value-add
- 3rd Party applications to be sold to the operators for value-add and integrated by the phone-makers
- 3rd Party applications that can be loaded after market and paid for by the end user
LiMo Platform supports C and C++ for native development (depending on whether the OEM enables it). From R2 onwards, LiMo Platform will support an Internet Framework for writing applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
The LiMo Platform supports C and C++.
The first set of SDKs provided by LiMo members will be native, followed by web and Java SDKs.
LiMo SDKs will be released starting later this year, providing developers with a means to create applications that will run on LiMo handsets.
By developing applications for the LiMo Platform, developers will have an inside track to the very large addressable market reflected by LiMo's collective membership base, which includes leading mobile operators, OEMs and ISVs.
Legal/IPR/Licensing FAQs
It is possible to convert a software submission from a proprietary license to an open source license or to the Foundation Public License, provided that certain criteria are met (IPR Policy, Article IV.B.2).
Binary modules may be shared with third parties for development purposes under the Object Code License (Annex F to the IPR Policy). Source code may be shared with contract developers, provided they meet certain criteria (IPR Policy, Article VIII).
The patent non-assertions are limited to certain types of software, but do apply to software contributed by all members.
Yes, in general and subject to other obligations (for example, under open source licenses), members may license to third parties software contributed to the LiMo Foundation. Members who develop software for the Foundation API assign their copyright interest in the software to the LiMo Foundation and thus retain no licensing rights in the copyright (Article IV, Section C (2)). In addition, the Foundation Public License (FPL) provides that there are no restrictions on a member’s use of contributed software except for certain types of derivative works (FOL, Section 2 (b)(i)).
Members may (depending on class of membership), but are not required to manufacture, develop or sell commercial products that use LiMo Foundation software.
Yes, members may use similar software provided that the similar software does not copy or contain any LiMo software and the similar software is not substantially similar to the source code for the LiMo Foundation software taken as a whole. However, no patent rights are granted or implied with respect to the similar software (IPR Policy, Article XI, Section B).
Rather than being explicitly excluded, a parent company or other affiliated entity will be excluded from the definition of IPR Affiliate so long as it does not meet one of the defined criteria for IPR Affiliate. An IPR Affiliate must not (i) have access to or be otherwise provided with any sensitive materials (highly confidential information of LiMo Foundation); (ii) be a majority-owned subsidiary of the member; or (iii) exert management influence or control on the technical development activities of the member with respect to Foundation software.
Companies or individuals seeking more detailed information on LiMo’s IPR policies are encouraged to download the LiMo Foundation IPR Guide document from the LiMo Foundation website.
Companies can contribute intellectual property to the development of a Foundation module through a variety of license grants. All contributions to Common Code must be done so on a royalty and copyright free basis.
Core members of LiMo Foundation have the right to commercially distribute common Foundation code on a royalty-free basis.
If a Core member distributes Foundation code to a company that is not a member in LiMo Foundation, that company can redistribute the unmodified object code in their own product or application. However, in practice, LiMo expects most companies that will be shipping commercial product with Foundation code will choose to take part in LiMo as a member in order to influence LiMo’s technical direction and to leverage the Foundation’s marketing and technical resources.
Yes, all members can access and modify the Foundation code for development purposes; however, only Core members can commercially ship Foundation code.
LiMo strives to leverage the benefits of open source, community-based and proprietary development models by creating a platform that can be rapidly distributed and implemented on a global basis. While the majority of code contributed to LiMo will be done on a royalty free basis, there is room for companies to license non-Common Capable contributions, so long as they offer all members a license on a non-discriminatory basis.
