Messages in this thread | | | Date | Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:06:52 -0500 (EST) | From | "Mike A. Harris" <> | Subject | Re: SoundBlaster Live |
| |
On Wed, 6 Jan 1999, Edward S. Marshall wrote:
>I was considering the purchase of your SoundBlaster Live card, but >discovered that due to lack of publically available programming >information, drivers for the card cannot be developed for my operating >system (Linux). > >Although I have been a customer of Creative in the past (because of the >quality of your hardware) I cannot remain with a vendor which cannot >support my choice of operating system, nor will I be able to, in good >conscience, recommend you as an open, cross-platform vendor. > >Do you have any plans to release sufficient programming specifications for >your SoundBlaster Live product such that it is possible to develop >drivers for your card for operating systems other than Windows? > >This message has been copied to the linux-kernel@vger.rutgers.edu mailing >list; I eagerly anticipate your response, which I will forward to the >kernel developers on that mailing list for discussion. > >Thank you for your quick response!
What? Creative doesn't release specs for their hardware? I'm doing a very large purchase order right now and had planned on going with Creative products. If it is true that their programming specs are closed, and that they are shutting out other OS's like Linux, then I'll be purchasing hardware from competitors that do release specs and support open-source systems.
Can someone confirm/deny this? If it is true, I won't be recommending any creative hardware to any of my customers any more, and I recommend everyone else do the same.
I've had it with vendors that create hardware, and don't release specs, and expect that either everyone uses Windows, or should use Windows. A piece of hardware is inherently not tied to ANY OS, but by not releasing specs, and not creating drivers for all OS's, they sure do make their hardware OS specific.
When you look at the growth of the Linux OS in the last year or so, and look at the projected growth for this year, and on... it is a miracle that companies like Creative don't wake up and smell the coffee. It is them that will lose out as Linux pushes its way past Microsoft.
Can anyone recommend a good replacement for the AWE64 series of cards? Non-Creative labs that is? Something with proper full-duplex, and wavetable, etc...
I'd like to have something that my customers can rely on in *ANY* OS.
Thanks in advance.
-- Mike A. Harris - Computer Consultant - Linux advocate
Linux software galore: http://freshmeat.net
- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
| |