When will the firmware for the DM42 be updated?

[brouhaha]

On a more serious note, it should be possible to compile your own unofficial DM42 firmware using a newer version of Free42. That's why SwissMicros split the firmware into their DMCP operating system, which is closed course but has a documented API, and the "application", which is the open-source Free42. Not to put to fine a point on it, but for anyone who isn't familiar with the licensing issues, this is EXACTLY why there was the huge flame war in this forum over whether SwissMicros should honor the terms of the GPL license of Free42, and why Thomas was absolutely correct to insist that they needed to do so. There were a lot of apologists for the license noncompliance point of view, and we are lucky that their view did not prevail.

That said, I haven't yet tried to compile it myself for the DM42 platform. But AFAIK, I was the first person to run Free42 on an _actual_ calculator hardware (for a loose definition of "actual"), when I had it running on the "DIYRPN 5" hardware that the late Rich Ottosen and I collaborated on. The electronics was actually quite similar to the later DM42, just using a different ARM microcontroller, but the same LCD display. This was presented at an HHC conference about ten years ago. I modified Free42 for the multi line display, and provided the patches to Thomas; I don't know whether he used my patches, or wrote something better.