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Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli, 05/02/2019 02:56 PM

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h1. Funding
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h2. Funding procedure
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h3. Funding status
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* [[Tasks_funding#"Finish porting Replicant to a newer Android version" nlnet Grant application|Finish porting Replicant to a newer Android version]]: Sent
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* [[Tasks_funding#"Complete libsamsung-ipc and libsamsung-ril" nlnet Grant application|Complete libsamsung-ipc and libsamsung-ril]] : Sent.
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* Graphics acceleration: Funding application WIP
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* Implement a fully-featured QMI-RIL: Lacks funding figures (how much time would it take to complete the work?), "contractor contacted at the last minute":https://aleksander.es/contact/ to hope to get some figures
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* Finish to port the Galaxy S 3 (I9300), Galaxy Note 2 (N7100) to Mainline Linux: Lacks funding figures (how much time would it take to complete the work?), despite having the kernel status
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h3. Applicant criteria
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* The applicants will need to already have Patches in Replicant to apply. So if you want to apply and don't have any patches in Replicant, the easiest way is just to send some useful patches.
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* The applicants will need to be able to demonstrate that they have the required skills by showing contributions in free and open source project in similar areas.
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* The applicants will need to be able to do contract work
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h3. Grant application template
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*url*: https://nlnet.nl/propose/
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*scope* : Is it per task?
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h4. Contact information
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|_. Your name | Denis Carikli |
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|_. Email address | [[PrivateContact#Email]] + our contact at the FSF |
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|_. Phone numbers | GNUtoo's phone number |
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|_. Organisation | Replicant and the FSF |
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|_. Country | France(Denis Carikli), USA (FSF) |
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h4. General project information
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|_. Project name |  <Depend on the task>  |
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|_. Website / wiki | <Depend on the task> |
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|_. Abstract: Can you explain the whole project and its expected outcome(s).(you have 1200 characters)
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Please be short and to the point in your answers; focus primarily on the what and how, not so much on the why.
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Add longer descriptions as attachments (see below).
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If English isn't your first language, don't worry - our reviewers don't care about spelling errors, only about great ideas.
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On the up side, you can be as technical as you need to be (but you don't have to).
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Do stay concrete. | <Depend on the task> |
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|_. Have you been involved with projects or organizations relevant to this project before?
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And if so, can you tell us a bit about your contributions? | Yes: I've been involved in Replicant since the beginning both as a developer and for managing the project:
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As a developer:
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* I did most/all the initial system work and made it work for the the HTC Dream, and the Google Nexus One.
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* I also worked on porting the Goldelico GTA04, Galaxy nexus, Galaxy Tab 2 7.1 along with other Replicant developers and did various bug fixes and improvements.
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* I am also doing code reviews for patches.
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And as for managing the project I'm involved in:
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* public relations (blog posts, etc)
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* fund usage decisions
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* infrastructure (system administration with other developers, etc)
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* documentation
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* project direction and strategic decisions |
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h4. Requested support
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|_. Requested Amount (Between 5000 and 50000 Euros) | <depends on the task> |
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|_. * Explain what the requested budget will be used for? | <depends on the task> |
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|_. * Does the project have other funding sources, both past and present? | 
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The Replicant project has about 200000 dollars at disposition:
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* The Replicant project has a donation page https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=19. Part of the donations were used for buying devices and reimburse conference attendances. We have about 20000 dollars remaining from the donation.
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* The Replicant project recently received 200000 dollars from Handshake: https://www.fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-receives-1-million-from-handshake As the FSF takes 10% that leaves us 180000 dollars |
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|_. Compare your own project with existing or historical efforts. | <Depend on the task?> |
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|_. What are significant technical challenges you expect to solve during the project, if any? | <Depend on the task?> |
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Describe the ecosystem of the project, and how you will engage with relevant actors and promote the outcomes?
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<pre>
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The Replicant project contributors and the FSF will supervise
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contractors to do the work.
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I will write a blog post to announce that the Replicant project
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has got some funding for this specific task, and that it is
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looking for a contractor to work on it. This is to make sure
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that everyone has equal chances in the application process.
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Then the most suited contractor will be selected. Only contractors
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that already have worked on similar tasks as part of free and open
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source software projects will be chosen. This way we can look at
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their existing contributions and make sure that they are able to
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do the task before engaging with them.
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The Replicant project will also make sure that the contractor has
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or gets the hardware required to work on the task, before starting
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to work on it.
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</pre>
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|_. Attachments | None |
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h4. How may we handle your information
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|_. What should we do in the other case,
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 e.g. when your project is not immediately selected? | I allow NLnet Foundation to keep the information I submit on record, should future funding opportunities arise |
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|_. Send me a copy of this application. | check-box checked |
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|_. PGP pubkey | None (if we use Replicant contact address, we can't encrypt to it) |
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h3. Discussions
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There is "a thread about funding on the mailing list":https://lists.osuosl.org/pipermail/replicant/2019-January/001774.html about that
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h2. Tasks that could be funded
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h3. Port Replicant to a newer Android version
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Replicant is currently based on LineageOS 13 which is based on Android 6.0.
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It is becoming very urgent to upgrade Replicant to a newer release of Android, as Android 6.0 is not supported anymore. It would probably also make it way easier to fix the following issues:
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* Replicant is currently lagging behind with security fixes
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* Replicant cannot be built from a GNU/Linux distribution that follows the Free Software Distribution Guidelines
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*Hardware requirements* :
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* A computer that is able to build Replicant.
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* A smartphone or tablet that can easily supported by the new version of Replicant and that meet Android 9 [[HardwareRequirements]].
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*Expected outcomes*:
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* Remove all proprietary components of LineageOS and make sure that Replicant follows the "Free Software Distributions Guidelines (FSDG)":https://www.gnu.org/distros/"
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* Port all the changes needed to successfully boot without any proprietary software in Replicant
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* Make sure that most of the security issues are fixed, and lower the attack surface if possible.
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* Make sure that Replicant can be built on a GNU/Linux distribution that follows the "Free Software Distributions Guidelines (FSDG)":https://www.gnu.org/distros/
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* Rebrand LineageOS as Replicant
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*Funding*: We could apply to https://nlnet.nl/PET
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h4. Subtasks
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The following sub-tasks could also be worked on along with porting Replicant to a newer Android version, as it doesn't make sense to do them for older Replicant versions:
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* [[Tasks v2#Add support for devices with an upstream Linux kernel|Add support for devices with an upstream Linux kernel]]
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* [[Tasks v2#Add support for more recent smartphones|Add support for more recent smartphones]]
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* [[Tasks v2#Add support for the devices supported in Replicant 6.0 and 4.2|Add support for the devices supported in Replicant 6.0 and 4.2]]
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* [[Tasks v2#Support in-system upgrades|Support in-system upgrades]]
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h4. Add support for devices with an upstream Linux kernel
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It would also be useful to support devices using kernels that are based on upstream Linux with the least amount of kernel changes possible:
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Currently, Replicant uses a dedicated Hardware Abstraction Layer per device, because device manufacturers implemented non-standard kernel interfaces. However, Android works with mainline kernels and supports plug-n-play hardware nowadays, so it makes sense to have generic Hardware Abstraction Layers for the standard interfaces of the Linux kernel (ALSA, V4L2, etc).
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See also the [[Upstream#Upstream-Linux|wiki page on Upstream Linux]] for more details on why using upstream kernel is beneficial, and for what devices to choose to work on this task.
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*Hardware requirements* :
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In addition to the requirements for porting Replicant to a newer Android version:
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* A device that is already well supported by the Upstream kernel. That device don't need to be already supported by LineageOS or even Android.
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: Knowledge of C, some C++, the ability to understand Java, kernel interfaces knowledge
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*Expected outcomes*: 
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* Basic features working (graphics, touchscreen, buttons, audio, and telephony if there is a modem) for at least one device that use a kernel that is very closely based on upstream Linux with the generic HALs.
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h4. Add support for more recent smartphones
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The most recent smartphones that Replicant support are quite old (they were made around 2013). The goal here is to add support for more recent smartphones in Replicant.
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Even if we think that it's at lot more important to support devices that are better for freedom (samsung devices usually have a nonfree bootloaders), adding supporting common (Samsung) phones and tablets is relatively easy and fast to do and could be a good way to get started in contributing to Replicant. 
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It's advised to pick a device that:
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* has an isolated modem (no shared memory between the modem and the processor running Android)
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* meets Android 9 [[HardwareRequirements]] to still be useful when Replicant will be ported to Android 9
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* has a modem that can easily be supported by samsung-ril and libsamsung-ipc 
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* is or will be supported by lineageOS
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Make sure to evaluate the device before starting to work on it. Some devices have been evaluated in the [[TargetsEvaluation|TargetsEvaluation wiki page]]. There is also a "forum section":https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/boards/27 for devices evaluation.
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*Hardware requirements*:
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In addition to the requirements for porting Replicant to a newer Android version: 
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* One or more smartphones that are already well supported by LineageOS or the AOSP project and that can easily be added in Replicant.
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Expected outcomes*: 
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* Basic features working (graphics, touchscreen, buttons, audio, and telephony if there is a modem) without requiring Replicant or the user to install or ship nonfree software or firmwares.
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h4. Add support for the devices supported in Replicant 6.0 and 4.2
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When porting Replicant to a new version, it's also a good idea to keep supporting all the devices we supported in the older versions, however this is not always possible or desirable.
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In order not to require too much work, devices that were previously supported will have to meet the [[HardwareRequirements]] of the new Android version. Here many of the devices already supported by Replicant 6.0 already meet such requirements.
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*Hardware requirements and dependencies*:
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In addition to the requirements for porting Replicant to a newer Android version:
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* The port to the new Android version needs to be complete for at least one device before starting to work on this.
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* All the devices will need to be shipped to (or acquired by) the person working on this task before starting to work on this.
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*Expected outcomes*: 
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* For each device: evaluate if they meet the hardware requirements of the new Android version and document that in the wiki in an appropriate location  ( like [[HardwareRequirements]] for instance)
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* For each device: basic features working (graphics, touchscreen, buttons, audio, and telephony if there is a modem) without requiring Replicant or the user to install or ship nonfree software or firmwares.
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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h4. Support in-system upgrades
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It would be useful for a Replicant device to be able to update itself to a new version of Replicant without requiring being connected to a PC. LineageOS already supports this; we suspect that it should be possible to adapt this LineageOS functionality to Replicant.
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Whenever possible, it would be useful to complete and submit some of the code written for Replicant to LineageOS.
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Expected outcomes*: 
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* In-system updates working without being connected to a PC
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h4. "Finish porting Replicant to a newer Android version" nlnet Grant application
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|_. Project name | Finish porting Replicant to a newer Android version |
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|_. Website / wiki | https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Porting_Replicant_to_Android_9 |
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Abstract: Can you explain the whole project and its expected outcome(s).in 1200 characters
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<pre>
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Replicant is a fully free software Android distribution which
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is approved by the FSF (http://gnu.org/distros).
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The combination of Android Open Source Project source code with
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the Linux source code provided by the device vendor is not
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sufficient to produce a fully free Android distribution that
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works: a lot of the code that makes critical hardware components
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work (the modem, graphics, audio, GPS, etc) is in userspace.
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Because of that, most device manufacturers don't release them as
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free software.
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To make such hardware work, the Replicant project manages to
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replace or avoid such nonfree software.
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Replicant is currently based on LineageOS 13.0 which in turn is based
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on Android 6.0.1 which are both not supported anymore. Replicant is
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based on LineageOS because it supports way more smartphones and
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tablets than the Android Open Source Project.
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The project consists in porting Replicant changes on top of the
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Android 9 release of the Android Open Source project,
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and when LineageOS 16 will be ready, to backport our changes on
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top of LineageOS 16.
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</pre> 
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|_. Have you been involved with projects or organizations relevant to this project before?
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And if so, can you tell us a bit about your contributions? | SEE TEMPLATE |
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|_. Requested Amount (Between 5000 and 50000 Euros) | 50000 Euros |
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|_. Does the project have other funding sources, both past and present? | SEE TEMPLATE |
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Explain what the requested budget will be used for? 
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<pre>
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The budget will only be used to fund this task through contract work.
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We think it will take something between 3 and 6 months of work
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for one full time developer.
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However it is always difficult to evaluate precisely the amount of time
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that this kind of project would take as sometimes it can be slowed down
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a lot due to bugs needing to be fixed.
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For instance, when adding support for the Nexus One to Replicant,
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a lot of time was spent dealing with display issues that didn't affect
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the upstream projects, because they relied on the GPU which required
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nonfree software to work.
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If we take the cost of a Freelance developer in the USA (75$ to 150$
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per hour) as a basis, to enable people living in Europe and the USA
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to apply, we can fund a developer to work on it for a period that
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is mostly equivalent to something between 2 to 4 months full
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time.
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So far we have at least one person interested in working on it
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as a contractor (me), and one volunteer who wants to work on it at the
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same time, but who cannot do it full time. We will make sure
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that everybody has a chance to apply for doing contract work.
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If the work is not done when the 50000E run out, and if we cannot
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make sure that it will be completed by volunteers in a reasonable
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timeframe, the Replicant project will most probably use its existing
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funds to pay for contract work to make sure that this task is completed.
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The Replicant project will also take care of ensuring that the
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people that will work on this task have the necessary hardware to
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do it, for instance by shipping or reimbursing the purchase of a
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compatible smartphone with the Replicant project money.
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Once we have the Samsung Galaxy SIII fully working with
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Replicant 9, we will add support for most smartphones
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and tablets we currently support in Replicant, and add support
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for more recent smartphones (the most recent one we currently
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support has been released in 2013).
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We also have a very basic documentation on the Android 9 port here:
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https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Porting_Replicant_to_Android_9
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</pre>
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Compare your own project with existing or historical efforts.
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<pre>
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Upgrading Replicant to a new Android version usually took about 2 or 3
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months of full-time equivalent work for one person.
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Here, we already have a device (The Galaxy SIII 4G) booting under Android 9
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master before the release, with a kernel that is closely based on upstream
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Linux, but a lot still needs to be done (modem, audio, sensors, etc) and
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validated. The Android architecture also changed a lot more between Android
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6.0.1 and Android 9 than it did when we ported Replicant to newer Android
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versions.
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</pre>
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What are significant technical challenges you expect to solve during the project, if any?
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<pre>
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We will also need to make sure that Replicant 9 can be built with a
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GNU/Linux distribution that is approved by the FSF. This could be
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challenging if they lack some of the packages required to build Android.
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</pre>
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|_. Describe the ecosystem of the project, and how you will engage with relevant actors and promote the outcomes? | SEE TEMPLATE |
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|_. Attachments | SEE TEMPLATE |
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h3. Graphics acceleration
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Currently, all supported devices on Replicant lack a free software driver for their GPU. This means that OpenGL ES (GLES) rendering must be done on the CPU (software rendering). The current approach to software rendering on Replicant 6 is based on "libAGL":https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/native/+/master/opengl, an optimized GLES 1.x implementation that uses "libpixelflinger":https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+log/master/libpixelflinger software renderer. Development on both these libraries ceased in 2013 and no work was done to support newer GLES versions.
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The major consequences of this are that:
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* Critical applications like web browsers crash due to lack of GLES 2.0 (#705). Replicant currently uses an out-dated browser that has many security flaws.
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* Replicant relies on patches to the Android framework to make things like the camera application work.
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* The rendering speed has degraded over the newer Android versions, like Android 6. Even applications that do not crash become difficult to use due to the huge rendering delays.
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This task aims to fix all these severe issues by putting together a new graphics stack for the Android 9 port. This new graphics stack must be compatible with Android 9 Hardware Abstraction Layers (HAL) and provide at least GLES 2.0 rendering. It should be flexible enough to do software rendering with "Mesa":https://www.mesa3d.org/intro.html or "SwiftShader":https://swiftshader.googlesource.com/SwiftShader (Google's current software renderer), and also GPU rendering on devices where a free GPU driver is available.
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"Joonas Kylmรคlรค":https://redmine.replicant.us/users/8585 has done some introductory work on the Android 9 port for the i9305, and found a way to have it rendering to the screen. He put together a graphics stack composed of: gbm_gralloc ("Gralloc HAL":https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/implement#gralloc_hal) + drm_hwcomposer ("Hardware Composer HAL":https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/implement#hardware_composer_hal) + Mesa with kms_swrast driver with softpipe backend (CPU software renderer for GLES). This will be the starting point for this task.
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Joonas' prototype shows that Replicant can use "gbm_gralloc":https://osdn.net/projects/android-x86/scm/git/external-gbm_gralloc/summary, an existing graphics memory allocator (gralloc) HAL maintained(ish) by Android-x86, in conjunction with "drm-hwcomposer":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm-hwcomposer/drm-hwcomposer, a libre implementation of Android's Hardware Composer HAL based on Linux's DRM, to achieve software rendering with Mesa. This solution avoids the need to write a custom gralloc for Replicant, and takes advantage of the hardware acceleration for composition provided by drm-hwcomposer on devices with a free software DRM driver (e.g. exynos-based smartphones and tablets).
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Much more testing is needed to confirm that gbm_gralloc can be the definitive gralloc HAL on Replicant 9. It still wasn't tried with SwiftShader, or even Mesa's llvmpipe backend, which is a must since the softpipe backend is too slow to be usable.
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Joonas' tests showed that some other components will need our attention, mostly the drm/exynos driver. In order to make drm/exynos work with gbm_gralloc and drm-hwcomposer Joonas had to disable "DRM-Auth":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Rendering_Manager#DRM-Master_and_DRM-Auth and hack some missing pixel formats into it by using the default pixel format for everything. Besides drm/exynos, we will also have to make the graphics stack work with the "virtual GEM (vGEM) driver":https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=DRM-vGEM-Mesa-Software, in order to support devices that lack a real drm driver.
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The major and first goal of this task is thus to build upon Joonas's prototype and put together a stable and fully free graphics stack, compatible with GLES 2.0, that does software rendering through Mesa's llvmpipe with a decent performance.
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*Hardware requirements*: A computer that is able to build Replicant. A Samsung Galaxy S3 or S3 4G to run the [[Porting_Replicant_to_Android_9|current Replicant 9 port]].
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*Difficulty*: Medium / Hard
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: Knowledge of C++, kernel interfaces knowledge or the ability to learn them
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*Expected outcomes*:
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* Graphics stack with decent performance on software rendering
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* Working GLES 2.0 implementation
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* Fast enough graphics
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* F-Droid applications not crashing anymore because of GLES.
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*Time +estimation+*:
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|_. Step |_. man-hours |
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| Set up the development environment, including the current Replicant 9 port on the test device. |>. 24 |
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| Read AOSP documentation and understand all details of the graphics stack. |>. 16 |
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| Adapt the build files to use Mesa's llvmpipe backend instead of softpipe. Fix potential LLVM version incompatibilities between Mesa and Android. |>. 40 |
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| Properly implement the missing pixel formats in drm/exynos and try to have it merged into upstream. |>. 72 |
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| Find a proper way to use DRM-Master and DRM-Auth with gbm_gralloc and drm-hwcomposer. |>. 40 |
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| Create test scenarios and check if the graphics stack works as expected. Consider "alternative grallocs":https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GraphicsResearch#Gralloc if necessary. |>. 40 |
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| Make the graphics stack work with vGEM driver besides drm/exynos. |>. 40 |
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| Document the design decisions. |>. 16 |
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|_. TOTAL |_>. 288 |
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h4. Subtasks
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The following sub-tasks could also be worked on after finishing writing the gralloc:
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* [[Tasks_funding#SwiftShader|SwiftShader]]
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* [[Tasks_funding#llvmpipe optimizations|llvmpipe optimizations]]
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* [[Tasks_funding#Lima driver|Lima driver]]
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h4. SwiftShader
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"SwiftShader":https://swiftshader.googlesource.com/SwiftShader is Google's current software renderer that is capable of GLES 2.0 and is now "under work to support Vulkan":https://swiftshader.googlesource.com/SwiftShader/+log/master.
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Mesa is the preferred renderer on Replicant for several reasons such as its support for both software and hardware (GPU) rendering, and its big community, with hundreds of active contributors. However, Mesa lacks a Vulkan software renderer. With Vulkan soon becoming a "requirement for new Android versions":https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2019/03/introducing-android-q-beta.html, we must make sure that Replicant's graphics stack can use SwiftShader in order to become futureproof. Furthermore, SwiftShader was built with performance in mind, specially for ARM CPUs, and may bring speed improvements on some devices.
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The goal of this sub-task is thus to create a compile-time or run-time option that allows using Replicant 9 with SwiftShader as it's software renderer instead of Mesa.
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*Hardware requirements*: A computer that is able to build Replicant. A smartphone or tablet that is supported by Replicant to be able to test the result.
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: Knowledge of C++, Makefiles and git. Android's graphics stack knowledge or the ability to learn them.
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*Expected outcomes*:
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* SwiftShader running on Replicant.
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* Working Vulkan implementation.
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*Time +estimation+*: 40 man-hours.
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h4. llvmpipe optimizations
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Mesa is a highly versatile library that can be extended with device drivers to allow it to be used in different environments ranging from software emulation to complete hardware acceleration. One such driver is the "Gallium llvmpipe driver":https://www.mesa3d.org/llvmpipe.html, which is a software rasterizer that uses LLVM to do runtime code generation. It only needs a CPU to run graphics computations and thus brings full GLES support to all Replicant devices.
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"llvmpipe has been integrated in Replicant 6":https://git.replicant.us/replicant/external_mesa3d/log/ but it's not activated by default yet as it is very slow. It is also not fully complete.
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To fix that, llvmpipe and/or the integration of it in Replicant should be optimized. We should first start by configuring llvmpipe and/or Mesa "to not implement very expensive OpenGL operations":https://www.mesa3d.org/perf.html. If that's not sufficient, or if that breaks application compatibility, various software or hardware features ("ARM NEON":https://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/neon.php, hardware 2D acceleration, etc) could be used to improve the speed.
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Considerable speed improvements may be achieved with a fine-tuned emulation for division instructions. The ARM cores on many Replicant devices do not have hardware "support for the SDIV/UDIV instructions":https://community.arm.com/processors/b/blog/posts/divide-and-conquer. We should profile some apps and check whether GLES functions requiring divisions are to blame for the poor performance.
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*Hardware requirements* : A computer that is able to build Replicant. A smartphone or tablet that is supported by Replicant to be able to test the result.
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*Difficulty*: Medium / Hard (depending on the amount of optimizations required)
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: See with Mesa project
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*Expected outcomes*: faster llvmpipe on ARM devices, able to run apps such as Fennec F-Droid (Firefox).
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*Time +estimation+*:
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|_. Step |_. man-hours |
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| Setup a "testing and benchmarking environment":https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/testing |>. 40 |
402
| Disable expensive OpenGL operations. Check speedup and stability. |>. 24 |
403
| Recap matrix operations (Linear Algebra) and study ARM NEON. |>. 48 |
404
| Do a profiling of several apps to find the most used GLES operations. |>. 32 |
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| Use "Ne10 library":https://github.com/projectNe10/Ne10 or "Neon Intrinsics":https://developer.arm.com/architectures/instruction-sets/simd-isas/neon/intrinsics for the most used GLES operations. |>. 80 |
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| Fix bugs, re-write the code where needed, get it stable. |>. 80 |
407
|_. TOTAL |_>. 304 |
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409
h4. Lima driver
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"Lima":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima is a free software Mesa driver for ARM Mali-4xx (Utgard) GPUs. These GPUs are present in several Replicant supported devices such as Galaxy S2, S3, S3 4G, Note and Note 2. 
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Lima aims to full GLES support but it is still in development. However the "current implementation status":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima/mesa/issues/39#note_79193 already allows the hardware acceleration of several tasks. GPU-based hardware acceleration is faster and less power hungry than software rendering, both by several orders of magnitude. It would allow Replicant devices to run applications with a performance close to that of non-free devices.
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*Hardware requirements* : A computer that is able to build Replicant. A Replicant device with a Mali-4xx GPU that can run mainline Linux (e.g. Galaxy S3 or Note 2).
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*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: "See with Lima project":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima/web/wikis/home#build-and-install
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*Expected outcomes*: Lima driver being used for GLES rendering on a supported device.
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423
|_. Step |_. man-hours |
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| Rebase "Lima's Linux kernel DRM driver":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima/linux on top of "forkbomb's Midas on Mainline kernel":https://blog.forkwhiletrue.me/pages/midas-mainline/. |>. 80 |
425
| Replace mainline Mesa for "Lima's Mesa":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima/mesa (with their driver).  |>. 16 |
426
| Build and test thoroughly with "synthetic":https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/testing and real applications. |>. 40 |
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| Create a fallback mechanism that uses the software renderer for GLES functions not yet implemented in Lima. |>. 100 |
428
|_. TOTAL |_>. 236 |
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h4. Software Bill of Materials
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* "Replicant 9":https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Porting_Replicant_to_Android_9
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* "Mesa":https://www.mesa3d.org/intro.html (in particular: "Gallium llvmpipe driver":https://www.mesa3d.org/llvmpipe.html)
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* "gbm_gralloc":https://osdn.net/projects/android-x86/scm/git/external-gbm_gralloc/summary
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* "drm-hwcomposer":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm-hwcomposer/drm-hwcomposer
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* "Linux kernel":https://www.kernel.org/ (in particular: drm/exynos driver and "vGEM driver":https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=DRM-vGEM-Mesa-Software)
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* "SwiftShader":https://swiftshader.googlesource.com/SwiftShader
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* "Ne10 library":https://github.com/projectNe10/Ne10
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* "Neon Intrinsics":https://developer.arm.com/architectures/instruction-sets/simd-isas/neon/intrinsics
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* "Lima":https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/lima
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h4. "Graphics acceleration on Replicant" nlnet Grant application
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|_. Project name | Graphics acceleration on Replicant |
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|_. Website / wiki | https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Tasks_funding#Graphics-acceleration |
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Abstract: Can you explain the whole project and its expected outcome(s) in 1200 characters
448
<pre>
449
Replicant is a fully free software Android distribution which is approved by the
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FSF. All supported devices on Replicant currently lack a free software driver
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for their GPU. As such, OpenGL ES (GLES) rendering must be done on the CPU
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through software rendering (SR).
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Replicant's current renderer is both incomplete and slow. It causes essential
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apps like web browsers to crash due to lack of GLES 2.0, and many other
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apps run too slow to be usable.
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This project aims to fix this by complementing Android's 9 graphics stack.
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Adding a few missing components will created of a fully-free, fast and compliant
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graphics stack.
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First we will write a gralloc (graphics memory allocator) tailored for SR that
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is compatible with drm-hwcomposer (a libre implementation of Android's Hardware
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Composer HAL). This gralloc enables drm-hwcomposer to work with SurfaceFlinger
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and SwiftShader, creating a stack capable of GLES 2.0 on the CPU of all Replicant
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devices.
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Afterwards we will integrate and optimize Mesa's llvmpipe SR, which offers better
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community support than SwiftShader. As last step we will add support for the
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Lima driver, which will bring an even faster GPU-backed GLES to at least 5
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devices.
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</pre> 
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|_. Have you been involved with projects or organizations relevant to this project before?
475
And if so, can you tell us a bit about your contributions? | SEE TEMPLATE |
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477
|_. Requested Amount (Between 5000 and 50000 Euros) | 50000 Euros |
478
|_. Does the project have other funding sources, both past and present? | SEE TEMPLATE |
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480
Explain what the requested budget will be used for? 
481 1 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
<pre>
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The budget will only be used to fund this project through contract work.
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We estimate that this project should take 868 man-hours to reach full completion,
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with 632 man-hours being enough to reach all software rendering goals, leaving only
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the GPU rendering to be done. A detailed run-down of this estimate is available at
487
https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Tasks_funding#Graphics-acceleration
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So far we have a team of two people interested on working on this project (the
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two authors and submitters of this application). Both can commit to the project
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on a part-time regime (17.5 hours per week), which means that the project should
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be fully completed in about 6 months.
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We will make sure that everybody has a chance to apply for doing contract work.
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If we take the cost of a freelance developer in the USA (75 to 150 USD
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per hour) as a basis, to enable people living in Europe and the USA
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to apply, we can fund between 380 and 760 man-hours with the 50000 EUR budget.
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This should be enough to cover all work on software rendering plus the initial
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work on GPU rendering.
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As happens on all software projects, getting a precise time/effort evaluation is
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a difficult endeavour, specially when dealing with a project that is heavy on
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research such as this one.
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If the software rendering goals are not reached when the 50000 EUR budget runs
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out, or if the Replicant project deems it necessary to have GPU rendering, it
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will use its existing funds to pay for contract work if no volunteers are found
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to finish the project.
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The Replicant project will also make sure that the people working on this project
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have the necessary hardware to do it, for instance by shipping or reimbursing the
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purchase of a compatible smartphone with the Replicant project funds.
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</pre>
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Compare your own project with existing or historical efforts.
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<pre>
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Past Replicant versions have relied on patches to the Android framework to make
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software rendering work. These patches were quite specific for Replicant and
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had no use elsewhere. This made them unfit for upstreaming or sharing with any
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other project.
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Android's Project Treble new graphics stack allows us to follow a different
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approach this time. Instead of patching the Android framework, we will
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implement one of the well defined Android HALs (Hardware Abstraction Layer):
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the gralloc HAL. The end result will be a software library that can prove to be
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useful on several projects besides Replicant (e.g. Android-x86 project) and
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thus fit for upstreaming.
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Furthermore, past Replicant versions relied on Google's software renderers
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(ligAGL and libpixelflinger) for OpenGL ES support. As quite a few other
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Google's open-source projects, these two had no community behind them and got
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stalled as soon as Google deprecated them.
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This time will we take a different approach. Although our first graphics stack
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will rely on Google's SwiftShader renderer, we will then move our efforts into
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Mesa. Mesa is a big community project, with hundreds of active contributors and
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great community support. It includes the llvmpipe software renderer along with
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new drivers in development for GPUs present on current and future Replicant
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devices. Mesa should provide a stable and maintained platform for years to come.
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</pre>
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What are significant technical challenges you expect to solve during the project, if any?
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<pre>
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We expect to solve significant technical challenges during this project:
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1. Implementation of the first Android gralloc library compatible with software
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rendering.
548
2. Development of free-software benchmarks for OpenGL ES on Android, used to test
549
our optimizations to llvmpipe.
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3. Optimization of llvmpipe by at least one order of magnitude.
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4. Running an exynos based smartphone with fully free-software GPU graphics
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acceleration.
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</pre>
554
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Describe the ecosystem of the project, and how you will engage with relevant actors and promote the outcomes?
556
<pre>
557
This project will re-use code from several projects such as Android,
558
drm-hwcomposer, Mesa and Lima driver. Whenever possible we will foster
559
collaboration with these projects and submit our changes upstream.
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The Replicant project contributors and the FSF will supervise
562
contractors to do the work.
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A blog post will announce that the Replicant project
565
has got some funding for this specific task, and that it is
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looking for a contractor to work on it. This is to make sure
567
that everyone has equal chances in the application process.
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Then the most suited contractor will be selected. Only contractors
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that already have worked on similar tasks as part of free and open
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source software projects will be chosen. This way we can look at
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their existing contributions and make sure that they are able to
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do the task before engaging with them.
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The Replicant project will also make sure that the contractor has
576
or gets the hardware required to work on the task, before starting
577
to work on it.
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</pre>
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|_. Attachments | SEE TEMPLATE |
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582
h3. Implement a fully-featured QMI-RIL
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The LTE variants of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 use a different modem from the non-LTE variants that Replicant currently supports.  You can help Replicant support those modems by implementing a QMI-RIL, which performs a similar role on the LTE variants as what Samsung-RIL performs on the currently-supported non-LTE variants.  Wolfgang has done some preliminary work on this, so you'll probably be picking up where he left off.
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*Hardware requirements* : A computer that is able to build Replicant. A smartphone or tablet supported by QMI-RIL like the Galaxy SIII 4G (i9305).
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*Difficulty*: Hard
589
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: Knowledge of C.
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*Expected outcomes*: A QMI-RIL that supports voice calls, SMS, and data, with as complete a protocol implementation as possible.
593 172 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
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*Dependencies*: This task should be fairly independent as:
595
* The lower layers should already be independent of the Android version as they are used under GNU/Linux
596
* [[QMI-RIL]] can probably easily be adapted to newer Android version
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*Funding*: We could apply to https://nlnet.nl/PET
599
600 215 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
h3. Finish to port the Galaxy S III (I9300) and the Galaxy Note 2 (N7100) to Mainline Linux
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602
The the Galaxy S 2 (I9100), Galaxy S 3 (I9300) and Galaxy Note 2 (N7100) currently use a kernel based on a vendor fork of Linux, which poses a maintainability and security issue.  Forkbomb has done some initial work on porting these devices to use mainline Linux.  You can help by continuing this work. This would also enable these devices to use generic hardware abstraction layers (HAL) when abstractions layers are ready, and to do some research on whether the "TrustZone operating system":https://blog.fossencdi.org/u-boot-galaxys3.html can be removed from such devices.
603
604 85 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
*Hardware requirements* : A computer that is able to build Replicant. A Galaxy S 2 (I9100), Galaxy S 3 (I9300) or Galaxy Note 2 (N7100), and a serial port adapter to get the kernel boot logs.
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606
*Difficulty*: Medium
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*Requirements/Prerequisites*: C programming language, driver development
609
610 1 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
*Expected outcomes*: Audio working, modem working, and Replicant or LineageOS booting with mainline Linux.
611 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
612 215 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
h4. "Finish to port the Galaxy S III (I9300) and the Galaxy Note 2 (N7100) to Mainline Linux" nlnet Grant application
613 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
614 239 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
|_. Project name | TODO |
615 241 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
|_. Website / wiki | https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Upstream#Replicant-supported-Samsung-Exynos-devices |
616 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
617
Abstract: Can you explain the whole project and its expected outcome(s).in 1200 characters
618
<pre>
619 1 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
Replicant is a fully free Android distribution that is
620 239 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
approved by the FSF (http://gnu.org/distros).
621 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
622 239 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
TODO
623
 
624 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
</pre>
625
626 1 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
|_. Have you been involved with projects or organizations relevant to this project before?
627 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
And if so, can you tell us a bit about your contributions? | SEE TEMPLATE |
628
629
|_. Requested Amount (Between 5000 and 50000 Euros) | 50000 Euros |
630
|_. Does the project have other funding sources, both past and present? | SEE TEMPLATE |
631 1 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
632 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
Explain what the requested budget will be used for? 
633
<pre>
634
The budget will only be used to fund this task through contract work.
635
636
We think it will take something between 3 and 4 month of work
637
for one full time developer.
638
639
If we take the cost of a Freelance developer in the USA (75$ to 150$
640
per hour) as a basis, to enable people living in Europe and the USA
641
to apply, we can fund a developer to work on it for a period that
642
is mostly equivalent to something between 2 to 4 months full
643
time.
644
645
The Replicant project will take care of making sure that the
646
people that will work on this task have the necessary hardware to
647
do it, for instance by shipping or reimbursing the purchase of a
648
compatible smartphone with the Replicant project money.
649
</pre>
650
651
Compare your own project with existing or historical efforts.
652
<pre>
653 239 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
TODO
654 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
</pre>
655
656
What are significant technical challenges you expect to solve during the project, if any?
657
<pre>
658 239 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
TODO
659 214 Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli
</pre>
660
661
|_. Describe the ecosystem of the project, and how you will engage with relevant actors and promote the outcomes? | SEE TEMPLATE |
662
|_. Attachments | SEE TEMPLATE |