Copyright and maintainability question for new ARM Cortex A9 HAL

[Michael Jones <mjones at linear dot com>]

Hi,

John Dallaway suggested I post a question I asked him to this list for comment, so here it goes...


I wanted to talk about copyright assignment issues with my Freescale iMX6X work early in the process.

The status is:

- Project not registered yet
- Uses Freescale SDK macros
- Uses Freescale SDK code for MMU, GIC, etc
- UART working
- Runs on a single core of an iMX6Q Sabre SD board
- Debuggable with JLink
- Runs a ported SDK primes app as a two thread eCos program

Before I register, I want to have a strategy in place to deal with Freescale code. Do I replace all the Freescale code line by line until nothing is left, or see if Freescale will assign copyright? I need advice on options before I spend a bunch of time rewriting the Freescale code I am using.

I have to make a trip to Freescale in Austin TX Sept 24th, so I have an opportunity to discuss with them if you know the appropriate people to discuss with.

Things on my road map not related to copyright:

- Getting SMP running
- Multicore debugging with JLink
- Getting Mentor Probe Working with a true multicore debugger (not separate GDB sessions in Eclipse)
- Building bin files for SD or flash
- Peripherals like Ethernet
- Registering the project
- Building a releasable toolchain (works for me, but nothing like works for everyone)