Messages in this thread |  | | | Date | Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:50:40 +0000 | | From | Alain Williams <> | | Subject | Re: VESAfb question |
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On Thu, Jan 14, 1999 at 12:13:01AM -0600, Shawn K. Quinn wrote: > On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, Alan Olsen wrote: > > | As a side note... Does anyone have a rational explanation for the > | "proprietary interface" mentality as displayed by video and sound card > | manufacturers? > > The only ones I can possibly come up with is the hardware makers in question > are too far in bed with Microsoft (for example), or the companies have > really lousy lawyers. No, they think that if the release the details on how to talk with their cards then: * competitors will be able to clone their cards and so they loose $$ * competitors will be able to steal their ideas (``hey, what a neat way of getting/asking it do do XXXX'') and so make their competitors products better than their owen. Whether any of the above will (in reality) happen is another matter, but as far as they are concerned they can't loose by no releasing the interface details --- ``people don't need it anyway 'cos we have written all the drivers and they get it on a floppy, anyone who wants to write their own driver must be nuts.''
The only way of getting them to release the specs is by education. Every time I look at something and can't see the specs I email them to let them know that I won't be buying their product because the interfaces aren't documented; it is sad to say that 95% don't bother to even reply.
-- Alain Williams
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