[NiroHiro]

because I do not have any Windows laptop/computer at home .... that's definitely something companies should take in account now

Did the macOS updater not work for you? What problem occurred?

I’m guessing you aren’t using Linux or another OS.

 

[NiroHiro]

purely developer's point of view for accessibility

Gotcha. I’ve got macOS, Windows, and Linux all at hand so it’s generally not a problem. Do note that MS offers free VMs that you can use.

My educated guess is that so many people fail to follow instructions that Kia gave up and made the application so it would do the right steps. Then they don’t have to worry about those who can’t decompress files or move them to the right place. The end result is probably the same though. Like you said, these users are the minority though.

 

[NiroHiro]

The updater app automatically reformats any device to which the update will be installed.

I believe that padonion's point is that the updater app isn't doing anything special when it formats the device, at least not compared to what a normal disk formatting tool would do. It's highly likely that Kia could say "format the drive as X and then put these files A, B, and C at location W" and the car would be able to perform the update successfully. If they did this, then people using something other than macOS or Windows would be able to perform the update without resorting to a VM or alternate computer.

My guess is that it's simply not cost-effective as most people don't have / want the level of technical expertise or desire to fiddle. I look at it as akin to an oil change: I will probably never do an oil change myself even though (from what I understand) it's not a complicated process — I simply am not interested in dealing with it. Likewise, most people don't want to format a device, decompress files, and then place them in the right spot. Most people don't even want to use the USB update option and would prefer the over-the-air version (and what I would give for an over-the-air oil change!).

That all being said, I bet someone could run the Kia updater app, prepare a USB drive, and then create a disk image of the result. Any OS should be able to then get the update data to a USB drive. It's even likely that the update locations are formulaic; if someone sniffed the network when the updater ran, we could probably grab the URL for the update and extrapolate to the next update. That might help padonion avoid using a different OS at all.

 

[NiroHiro]

But then there is a legal aspect to it. Who is responsible if it bricks a car ?

Yep. While I was poking around the update site to see if they had a hidden-but-available direct link, I did see their boilerplate for that:

Please only use the official NaU (Navigation Updater) software found on this website to download your Audio system/Map update Downloading or copying software or updates from other sources can lead to update failures and cause critical issues with the Audio system

That being said, I'm not even really advocating for additional / third-party distribution of the update, just figuring out the official URL, downloading it directly, then putting it on a flash drive.

When using the app, you agree with the license agreement, which I'm pretty sure, specifies that all the process and files are property of Kia, and therefore should not be used otherwise than specified.

It wouldn't surprise me if they did say that, but that's certainly not 100% true. Specifically, the car makes use of some open source software, including packages with the GPL, LGPL, Apache, MIT, BSD and other licenses.

 

[NiroHiro]

not GPL, it is too intrusive and requires full disclosure of the software

I'm not sure I follow your meaning... do you believe that Kia is lying about what licenses are in use? When you clicked on the link I provided (and you quoted) and looked at the licenses, does GNU General Public License v2.0 not mean GPL? Perhaps you are conflating some other license? I'm having trouble understanding how you can claim there's not GPL software here. I did only look at the HEV / PHEV, so maybe another model has no GPL-licensed software in it?

But the use of these licenses does not prevent from adding a legal note of voiding the car's warranty

This may or may not be true — I don't actually know. I wonder if there have been any legal cases dealing with the intersection of software and the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act.

However, I was only responding to your specific earlier phrasing (emphasis mine):

specifies that all the process and files are property of Kia

 

[NiroHiro]

This is the clarification between GPL and LGPL

Thank you, but I don't need this. I've (fortunately and unfortunately) been on the target side of an IBM acquisition where I had to learn more than I cared to know about LGPL vs GPL. Hopefully it will be useful to someone else reading along.

My point is purely around this interaction:

You: Kia may claim that the files are property of Kia.
Me: If they do, they are wrong, because there's OSS including GPL. Here's a link backing that claim.
You: No, they don't have GPL.
Me: Here's a link backing that claim.
You: The firmware shouldn't contain GPL.

This has been a frustrating conversation on my end because you present a point, I counter that point, then you slightly change your point on the reply instead of directly addressing it.

Moving on to your newest point, I do agree that it's highly unlikely that the firmware contains GPL code, for the reasons you stated. That being said, there's been cases of companies being ignorant of the law (or perhaps just not caring) and linking GPL code where they shouldn't. I don't really have the time or interest to go and decompile the files to see one way or the other.