It has been a while since the second-generation Nexus 7 tablet was released, but the factory image is still not available. However, the main reason is not because the Android Open Source team is slacking off.
Today, Jean-Baptiste Queru, the head of Google's Android Open Source Project (Android Open Source Project, abbreviated as AOSP), announced his resignation due to dissatisfaction with Qualcomm's obstruction of open-source projects.
Queru revealed on Google+ that the reason he left AOSP is mainly because chip manufacturers are unwilling to open the GPU code, and he lacks the legal authority to modify some existing issues in the system. This ultimately led to the inability to use the open-source system on the latest flagship devices (Nexus products), which invited criticism from all sides. In response to this dilemma, he had no choice but to give up.
Queru’s frustration had early signs. As early as July 31, he once revealed on Twitter, "The hard work of six months was ruined by lawyers, and I hate this feeling." Looking at it now, Queru had already completed the new factory image, but due to legal reasons, it could not be released.
Although Queru did not explicitly point out, it is very obvious that the blame is directed at Qualcomm. The Google Nexus One, Nexus 4 smartphones, and the latest second-generation Nexus 7 tablets all use Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and Adreno GPUs. The release of the factory images and drivers for the first two Nexus devices was already fraught with difficulties, and the new Nexus 7 is no exception.