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From(david parsons)
SubjectRe: Linux, UDI and SCO.
Date20 Sep 1998 18:56:52 -0700
In article <linux.kernel.ABDFz0suqH@khim.mccme.ru>,
Khimenko Victor <khim@sch57.msk.ru> wrote:
>In <3603C1B9.2D6279A2@iphase.com> David Hollister (dhollist@Iphase.COM) wrote:
>DH> Terry et.al,
>
>DH> Maybe I should have done a little more research before opening my
>DH> mouth.  I don't claim to be a UDI expert, a licensing expert, or
>DH> anything of the sort.  Terry has evidently done a lot more research into
>DH> this whole thing than I have, which is great.
>
>But Terry still wrong. There are is GPL and even more important there is
>additional Linus clause about possibility of binary drivers for Linux.
>So we have three choices for UDI drivers:
>  1. GNU GPL'ed UDI drivers or similar. Linux community are happy. [Some] Unix
>     vendors are unhappy. [Some] hardware manufacturers are unhappy.
>  2. GNU LGPL'ed UDI drivers or similar. Linux community are content. Unix
                                   [Some of the ]                   [, Some
      of the Linux community is happy.]
>     vendors are content. [Some] hardware manufacturers are unhappy.
>  3. Closed-Source UDI drivers. Linux community is unhappy. [Some] Unix
                               [Some of the ]             [, Some of the
      Linux community is content, Some of the Linux community is happy]
>     verndors are content, some are unhappy. Hardware manufacturers are
>     happy.


    As the principal programmer behind a couple of Linux distributions
    (Mastodon Linux and McAfee's WebShield product), I'd be estatic if
    I could liberate device drivers for hardware that doesn't yet support
    Linux (I even looked into building a NT-emulation layer so I could
    use those device drivers when the 3c59x driver was exploding after
    only pushing a few gig of data through it.)

    Even if the UDI spec is a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy(tm) between
    all the Unix vendors and Microsoft to destroy Linux, they have to
    get it accepted before they can put in into affect.  At which
    point I can imagine the following conversation with a hardware
    vendor and a Unix representative of the VR-WC.

       VR-WC:  "We want to to break your UDI driver now, so that
		systems that depend on it will fail."

       Hardware vendor:
		"Why?"

       VR-WC:  "It's time to kill Linux now!"

       Hardware vendor, looking at 500,000 seats of proprietary Unix
			A vs 25,000,000 seats of Linux, 1,000,000 of
			which are using their hardware:
               "Please go away.  I have a gun."


                  ____
    david parsons \bi/ "I don't theeenk so, Cisco"
                   \/
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