Allow Outside Coders to Contribute Code

14

Description

Allow outside coders to contribute to the code base to add new features.

Competitive/Pricing/Notes

It seems there are a lot of relatively trivial features missing in the software (resume last song from USB, view/manage Sentry files, safe remove of USB, etc.) and I suspect that this is simply down to priorities.

If Tesla managed the MCU code is a similar way to Linux, which allows contributions, then I’m certain they would get a lot of these issues fixed very quickly. Note that I do NOT mean a free-for-all where cars could end up with different versions of hacked code – the contributions would still have to be approved and merged with the original code by Tesla. It just means Tesla could focus on the big stuff and volunteers could help with the small but important details.

Moderator: I like the idea, but suspect it would take more resources and engineers away from ongoing projects to manage outside access and carefully review the submitted code. It would also require opening up Tesla’s source code, which I doubt they are willing to do.

Status

Unknown.

lightly edited by moderator
Category: CY3XS Applies to:
Tags:
     Created 30-Jul-2019

5 Comments

As Tesla does not find the priority to fix as simple things as the USB player not resuming after sleep, after several years, I totally agree with this wish.

Allowing contributors to high-level parts would only be positive. All contributions to be filtered and accepted by Tesla, of course.
    Created 4-Mar-2023
Fred
308
I think allowing third parties to write extensions through a well-defined API could work. It would still need to be managed and validated by Tesla. I would be happy to start with only allowing control of entertainment system and lights.
    Created 1-Jan-2021
Expecting Tesla to open source their software is pretty ridiculous


Well given that it is linux based, it is far from ridiculous, in fact they are obliged to release parts of it and has already happened: https://www.zdnet.com/article/tesla-starts-to-release-its-cars-open-source-linux-software-code/

I specifically mentioned the MCU (infotainment), not core software - there is no way in hell I want anyone messing with the battery and motor controls!

Yes, one possibility would be an "app store" approach with a strict API to connect to the car INFOTAINMENT hardware (USB, audio, limited screen regions) and driving stats as available via the unofficial REST API. I think this could be very positive for both drivers and Tesla.
    Created 11-Aug-2019
As stated, this would be very difficult to manage.

However, it could be done in a limited way by allowing a sandboxed app system so that developers could build their own apps for the UI.

Expecting Tesla to open source their software is pretty ridiculous, and expecting them to allow development of core features by third party developers even more so. But I can see the potential for an app ecosystem similar to Android or (more likely, with strict controls) Apple.
    Created 11-Aug-2019
Asking for trouble. Lay off the weed.
    Created 10-Aug-2019