So, they finally got around to it and it’s officially here! Glad to see this happening.
http://www.archos.com/support/support_tech/updates_dev.html?country=gb&lang=en
For those that want to use build-root and create something with minimal userspace the sources for SDE also appeared on archos git repository:
(note this is the source for the content of the SDE aos file, it does not allow you to create a signed AOS file. If you want to use the output, just flash it through recovery)
The more observant among our readers might have already noticed that these git repositories appeared today in the official Archos Gitorious account:
And something more verbose and also for the less tech-savvy among our readers:
This will be pretty much the same type of sources like we saw them for the previous generations. (Android/Linux kernel, toolchain, µClibc userspace, …)
One very important bit: this will not be the source-code for the whole firmware. This will only be the sources for which Archos:
Just to make this clear: no Android source code is to be expected.
We expect that soon Archos will also provide a SDE firmware for gen9 to enable experimentation with open-source software on this very interesting OMAP4 based hardware. 
We’ve worked hard for it and now openAOS Android Anoa, the first beta grade release is here!
We give you Android 2.3 Gingerbread for gen7 and gen8 hardware, based on Cyanogenmod 7.
The images can be found on our new download server in the release directory.
If you haven’t set up your device to boot multiple operating systems yet then please follow the respective guides for gen7 (A5IT, A48 coming soon) and gen8 (A43, A70, A101).
Please keep in mind that this is not a full replacement firmware it is a community created Android 2.3 adaptation in beta stage. It should work OK but there are still many things missing (e.g. media playback, USB storage). If you find something that is clearly broken then please check if it has been reported yet and if not then please create an issue. DivX118 also summed it up nicely in a forum post.
A list of things adressed in this release (not complete, compared to older preview images):
Many thanks to all the people who have spent their precious free time on this release: BuBU, divx118, illifant, …
If you are interested in helping and submitting patches, please check the developer pages on openAOS Android and consider joining our IRC channel and the openaos-android mailing list.
Why the release name Anoa? You may ask… Well we felt like bringing back easy to remember names so people know what they are running. Or would you rather try to remember: ‘the stable release of openaos android that came out for gen7 and gen8 and the images were the first ones built in week 33 of 2011 and is based on CM7′? Because that’s actually all encoded in the filename. Anoa it is then! But don’t get too used to it, the Bull is probably right around the corner… 
< _BuBU> dm8tbr: time for new anouncement? 
< _BuBU> openaos-gingerbread-20110628_122823.img.gz
< _BuBU> ATTENTION !! new zImage/initramfs.cpio.gz are required (else accelerometer will not work the right way on A101
< _BuBU> so:
< _BuBU> – accelerometer should work
< _BuBU> – both sdcard and storage should be mounted
< _BuBU> – bigger home/menu/back buttons..
< _BuBU> – update from upstream cyanogenmod (so regression or improvements expected)
< _BuBU> for the accelerometer you may have to active 180 degrees into cyanogenmod display settings
Bubu sat down and made Cyanogenmod Gingerbread Android 2.3 working in his spare time. This is a proof of concept so don’t expect too much.
Currently working:
Not working:
Known problems:
We’re looking for help to take this further. As this can’t be done by one person alone.
If you want to try it. It currently works on gen8 with latest openAOS boot menu:
http://download.openaos.org/bubu/gen8/android/openaos-gingerbread-poc_2011062301.img.gz
http://download.openaos.org/bubu/gen8/android/openaos-gingerbread-poc_2011062301.img.gz.md5sum
You need to gunzip and copy it into the root directory of your device, then add it to your menu.lst.
Sources are here:
https://gitorious.org/openaos-cyanogenmod
(Currently this is only vendor/archos/gen8 and device/archos/gen8, so you need to first “clone” the master branch of CyanogenMod)
Join us on IRC if you want to have a chat about it. This also has potential for the A5IT/A48IT but it needs volunteers that will help to make that happen.