[RANT] Where are all the sources? - Galaxy Ace S5830 General

OK, this is beginning to give me the s**ts. Where are all the sources to the stuff that is being posted up here? I have been trying to build (rebuild) some of the ROMS on here, if for no other reason than to check there is no dodgy code in them, but also to learn from what everyone has done.
This is supposed to be a DEVELOPMENT forum, where source code is shared and discussed. Not a bazaar where the posters do a bit of hocus-pocus putting together roms from binaries of unknown source code. They fall like crumbs from the majestic sages, that do even more unknown hocus-pocus and cast them down to the unwashed masses to oooh and aahh at, as they give homage to the great compilers in the sky. What is this? Job security?
I have no idea what the legals are around this and I don't really care. The point is that the spirit of the GPL is you post sources (or patches against standard sources) along with any binaries. The binaries are only there to save us the bother of recompiling. The source is what is important in this forum. How else are others going to improve on the code if they can't see it?
I have posted on a couple of threads and/or contacted various people on here, most of whose response is "oh I didn't compile the actual source code, I just stuck it together from the binaries". One of them (thanks kevinlekiller) was kind enough to at least give me rundown on what he did (as best as he could remember - bit of a worry!), but even he didn't have access to the source code. Maybe I haven't looked in the right place, but it shouldn't be this frigging hard - it should be front and centre.
If I had my way, I would ban every ROM post that didn't have a clear link back to all the sources. That's what github etc is for!
Please, please, people, post the source first, binaries can be an afterthought. If you don't have access to the source code, then I reckon it shouldn't be here - who knows what in there? One of these days someone is going to innocently distribute some nefarious program with a ROM. It really isn't that hard to compile a ROM - takes about half an hour on my Linux laptop.
This is actually standard xda-developers policy: see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2031989&postcount=45 but seems to be widely ignored.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Edit: I realise this doesn't apply to everyone, some people are great about posting sources.

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Wrong section buddy
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium

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djsky2011 said:
Wrong section buddy
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium
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Huh? You're joking right? I'm discussing the sources not being available in this section, the source is a development topic. Hmm maybe this is such a common complaint that there is a separate section created for it. Sorry I'm getting crabby.
What section should it go in?

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You take 30mins , mine takes 2h - it's different for everyone......
Furthermore , if they're basing a ROM off a ROM , what sources are there to be published ?
Furthermore , the sources can already be found online if you want CM7/AOSP:
http://github.com/teamhacksung/android_device_samsung_cooper
Herpderp Defy.

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ok man make a rom then talk to us. most of roms here are like this u got new app,launcher and theme voila new rom is posted(no offense).so they cant give you source code.they make roms from the prebuilt ones like using stock or cm7 as base .most of the developers which made roms from source code had there github accounts link in there username ok i agree there are one or two developer who dont share but that dose not mean everyone here is just like them.ok
1.i can make a rom.
2.but i will not make a one unless i compiled it from source code.
3.sure i will share its source code.
i agree a little bit with you

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EmoBoiix3 said:
You take 30mins , mine takes 2h - it's different for everyone......
Furthermore , if they're basing a ROM off a ROM , what sources are there to be published ?
Furthermore , the sources can already be found online if you want CM7/AOSP:
http://github.com/teamhacksung/android_device_samsung_cooper
Herpderp Defy.
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Finally. Thank you! A link to the source code (actually the config files is just what I looking for).
So, since I have your attention, I see a couple of roms from people like vo-1, what is he doing just compiling the source (I have asked him, no reply)?
On the ROMS based on ROMS thing, while there is technically no source code you put through a compiler - there is still source - it is a list of all the changes made to that ROM.
I also can't believe people don't seem to use any sort of build environment - as in a build script - how else are we going to document what's been done and/or recreate it?

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xdaboy122 said:
ok man make a rom then talk to us. most of roms here are like this u got new app,launcher and theme voila new rom is posted(no offense).so they cant give you source code.they make roms from the prebuilt ones like using stock or cm7 as base .most of the developers which made roms from source code had there github accounts link in there username ok i agree there are one or two developer who dont share but that dose not mean everyone here is just like them.ok
1.i can make a rom.
2.but i will not make a one unless i compiled it from source code.
3.sure i will share its source code.
i agree a little bit with you
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Yes I agree this does not apply to everyone. Some people do post source. I suppose my frustration was the source seemed to be forgotten and it shouldn't be so hard to track it down. Maybe I have spent too much time in the Linux world, where source code is king.
I will kick off a make on the source that EmoBoiix3 linked to (thanks mate) and see where we go from there!

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A lot of roms here are based off other roms. So much they don't build it themselves, just some editing of the zip.
Other developers merely want to save the technobabble since most xda users are blind to programming.

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divereigh said:
Huh? You're joking right? I'm discussing the sources not being available in this section, the source is a development topic. Hmm maybe this is such a common complaint that there is a separate section created for it. Sorry I'm getting crabby.
What section should it go in?
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still wrong section
this aint a source
this is a discusion so its supposed to be in general section

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Should be in general section IMO.
But I fully agree with the OP. It is true lots of ROMs here are "cooked" from other ROMs and are not "developed" denovo. They are "theme" packs.
But for example we have two groups actively working on builds of CM 7.2, they each seem to be building from source and tweaking fixes in. It would really help if everyone used github. Pull a source, build, fix and commit to your fork. Anyone else can see what you changed, what revision of the tree you used, and can learn from your work and it could perhaps inspire them to fix something else, to contribute back to make *your* build better.
Sharing your code, even if it is just 5 line hack on teamhacksung / cyanogenmod /AOSP source, honours the GPL and helps our community grow stronger.
The GalaxyICS team is a great example, I can see where they've pulled their sources, what (hard) work they've done in what components. They are contributing all their work and knowledge back. And their fixes can be pulled into other projects easily, speeding up development and sharing that knowledge for everyone.
A phone like the Ace continually loses developers as they migrate to "better" phones, and we really need to share as much knowledge as possible to keep our software

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Sometimes , changes just cannot be shown.....like framework-res tweaks!
Herpderp Defy.

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EmoBoiix3 said:
Sometimes , changes just cannot be shown.....like framework-res tweaks!
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What sort of tweaks are you thinking of? If it's a replaced image file, then that can be a separate file copied in with a script. If it's a changed text file, that can be done with patch or sed.
Let me give you an example of what I did with kevinlekiller's The End 2.5o rom. He based it on a vo-1 rom and did a fair number of replacing files, odexing etc. I produced this bash script (attached) along with his extra (binary) sources which I think replicated what he did. Self documenting! Everyone can see what is in there, maybe even change it again.
More details towards the bottom of this page: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1440396&page=31

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I see where you are coming from and I sympathize. I'm not a developer, because I don't have the time and patience to work on source code , compile , debug etc.
The Rom's we have for the Galaxy Ace are already very good, the developers that have worked on them have/had the time and patience to iron out most the issues. So for me to try to come out with something better would seem futile.
I still like customizing these Rom's to a way that work better for me, and it doesn't involve having to spend lots of time, because like I said they are already very good. So it just ends up that a few files are added or changed.
Is that a bad thing? I think those that think it is should just not use those types of Rom's, everyone has a right to their opinion.
At first when you asked me for sources, I thought you meant the source code, since I already listed everything that was used in the first post. But then I realized you wanted direct sources (links) to those files. This is something I will do in the future, post the links of every file, I agree with you , things should be more documented, it would save everyone time instead of trial and error and possibly even giving up.
Anyways, I should conclude here, it is getting a long read.

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divereigh said:
What sort of tweaks are you thinking of? If it's a replaced image file, then that can be a separate file copied in with a script. If it's a changed text file, that can be done with patch or sed.
Let me give you an example of what I did with kevinlekiller's The End 2.5o rom. He based it on a vo-1 rom and did a fair number of replacing files, odexing etc. I produced this bash script (attached) along with his extra (binary) sources which I think replicated what he did. Self documenting! Everyone can see what is in there, maybe even change it again.
More details towards the bottom of this page: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1440396&page=31
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nice script, thats for sure
but u shouldnt expect everyone to be as geeky and provide such build script.
theres a big different between "providing source" that is mandatory by forum rules and "providing howto step by step" like in your script.
hell most of the roms (the one that is based on previous precompiled rom) were created 100% on windows machine without even touching linux, and maybe the rom creator (modder) doesnt have any clue what in the world is linux. maybe they even dont know that their windows machine do have terminal (cmd). so arent u asking for too much?

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an0nym0us_ said:
nice script, thats for sure
but u shouldnt expect everyone to be as geeky and provide such build script.
theres a big different between "providing source" that is mandatory by forum rules and "providing howto step by step" like in your script.
hell most of the roms (the one that is based on previous precompiled rom) were created 100% on windows machine without even touching linux, and maybe the rom creator (modder) doesnt have any clue what in the world is linux. maybe they even dont know that their windows machine do have terminal (cmd). so arent u asking for too much?
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Actually I only have 1 windows pc, all my other PC's are ubuntu / linux mint installed on them. I use windows on the main PC because most of my games work on it.
Edit: And, I didn't take offense to your post , it is valid, most people have no clue about linux.

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kevinlekiller said:
Actually I only have 1 windows pc, all my other PC's are ubuntu / linux mint installed on them. I use windows on the main PC because most of my games work on it.
Edit: And, I didn't take offense to your post , it is valid, most people have no clue about linux.
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and no offence intended and sorry if anyone feels my post abit too offending
my point is a rom created from previous precompiled rom can be created 100% on windows machine.
in that case the rom also doesnt have sourcecode because it were created from already precompiled rom.
so if the modder just give a valid link to what he put/change it still suites the forum rules to provide source.
let say i've modded a cm rom, i've include ketuts oc kernel, i've include a launcher, and a filemanger, and a theme.
so if i just provide a valid link to the original cm rom, a link to ketuts oc kernel thread, a market link to the launcher, the filemanager and the theme, thats a valid source because the rom were modded from binary precompiled rom/kernel/launcher/filemanager/theme.
so the link to those binary precompiled rom/kernel/launcher/filemanager/theme is a valid "source".

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divereigh said:
This is supposed to be a DEVELOPMENT forum, where source code is shared and discussed. Not a bazaar where the posters do a bit of hocus-pocus putting together roms from binaries of unknown source code.
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I agree. There are two groups of devs:
"Real" developers. They provide repo links and detailed changelogs.
Modders. They should provide repo links and detailed changelogs.
A repo has the benefit of allowing peer review. Peer review improves code quality just like user tests and their reports do. Afterall, this is what XDA is about.
What I like about XDA is how people eagerly send in "works" notes. Not much information, but better than just trying out and telling nobody.

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Exactly guys......it seems cyanogenmod has become the only alternative and devs here are only editing it and bringing out new firmware versions. Some also edit stock roms..........but no one here gave a thought of creating a new genre of custom rom right from source.

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biswatmak said:
Exactly guys......it seems cyanogenmod has become the only alternative and devs here are only editing it and bringing out new firmware versions. Some also edit stock roms..........but no one here gave a thought of creating a new genre of custom rom right from source.
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its not as easy as it sounds, thats why the two main dogs are miui and cyanogenmod.

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an0nym0us_ said:
nice script, thats for sure
but u shouldnt expect everyone to be as geeky and provide such build script.
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I get that. I essentially built an interpreter and a source file (the build instructions). Way too much for most. However I think it would be great as developers if we provided be packaging tools so that others can use them and provide repeatable builds and automatically documented builds ("read the source luke").
an0nym0us_ said:
theres a big different between "providing source" that is mandatory by forum rules and "providing howto step by step" like in your script.
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Agreed, it isn't mandatory, however for the purposes of educating and peer-review it would be great. So my challenge is to make this easy for people.
an0nym0us_ said:
hell most of the roms (the one that is based on previous precompiled rom) were created 100% on windows machine without even touching linux, and maybe the rom creator (modder) doesnt have any clue what in the world is linux. maybe they even dont know that their windows machine do have terminal (cmd). so arent u asking for too much?
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So we need a graphical version for Windows..