Amazon has released the source code for all models of the Kindle. This means that we can now look at the code which makes the Kindle, Kindle 2, and the Kindle DX tick. The code can be found here on the Amazon site. So the question for all the curious minds out there is why did Amazon do this.
One benefit of releasing the source code, whether or not this was Amazon’s intent, is that it allows Amazon to see both what can be done on the Kindle platform and what features people want on their Kindles. Though the Oprah endorsement pretty firmly puts the Kindle in the category of a non-geek product, it is still a type of computer, and a pretty limited one at that. There are probably people out there who want to do things to beef up what Amazon’s e-book reader can do. If these guys write features into the Kindle that prove popular, if enough of the more cutting-edge Kindle owners install the new software because they think it is more valuable than the stock code, then Amazon will probably work to get those features onto the Kindle (assuming they’re not things like allowing users to download anything they want from the Amazon store for free).
If the developers choose to make the code open source, that will make life easier for Amazon, but the source code is not “open” in the traditional sense. There is no GPL license included with the Kindle source code, so developers don’t have to release the source code behind their projects, no matter how heavily the new material is based on the original product. This suggests that Amazon’s intentions with this release are a little trickier than we might realize right now.
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