Xiaomi has announced that it is planning to change how quickly it rolls out the kernel source code for each of its devices. With Android being open sourced, and manufacturers like Xiaomi using the software, it needs to comply with open source standards like GPL or General Public License. Which means open sourcing the code for its kernels. Xiaomi has opened sourced the kernel code for many of its smartphones already, but hasn’t been all that quick with doing so. However that’s going to change. According to a Xiaomi spokesperson that reached out to XDA, Xiaomi is looking to release source code “within three months after its launch”.
The kernel source code isn’t something that really matters for most users, as many might not even know what it means. But for those that are looking to develop for Xiaomi’s smartphones, this source code is needed for creating custom kernels, custom ROMs and much more. So Xiaomi likely doesn’t see it as a huge priority, compared to rolling out updates to MIUI, or rolling out new versions of Android. But it is still an important aspect here, and rolling out the source code within three months is a huge improvement. But as you might expect, it is still quite a wait. Now Xiaomi might be doing a bit of underpromising and over-delivering, so we’ll have to wait and see how long it takes Xiaomi to release the kernel source code for the Mi MIX 2S that was announced last month in Shanghai.
Xiaomi has released a number of devices over the years, as it has slowly grown to become one of the biggest smartphone makers in the world. In fact, Xiaomi just turned eight years old this week. And it has done a lot in eight years, including launching in India and becoming number one in the country. This has been the main catalyst for Xiaomi’s growth over the past few years, as its home country of China has become very competitive. And with that comes more users, and potentially more developers that want to mess around with developing kernels and custom ROMs for these devices. So it’s important to release the source code for developers to be able to do that.