Messages in this thread | | | Date | Mon, 19 Feb 2001 11:53:14 +0100 | From | Werner Almesberger <> | Subject | Re: [LONG RANT] Re: Linux stifles innovation... |
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Henning P. Schmiedehausen wrote: > Company wants to make at least some bucks with their > products and the driver is part of the product. So they may want to > release a driver which is "closed source".
Usually, the driver doesn't play a large role in product differentiation, at least not in a positive way. Also, we must balance the value closed-sourcing the driver may have for a company, against the damage this does to Linux development.
Now what's at stake ? Look at the Windows world. Also there, companies could release their drivers as Open Source. Quick, how many do this ? Almost none. So, given the choice, most companies have defaulted to closed source. Consistently complaining when a company tries to release only closed source drivers for Linux seems to generally have the desired effect of making them change their policy.
So if we'd follow your line of reasoning, we'd end up with almost all drivers being closed-source. Since drivers are an essential part of any Linux kernel, this would essentially mean that all of the Linux kernel would be subjected to the constraints of closed-source development.
Fine. So you've reinvented AIX, HP-UX, SCO, etc. The question is what you expect from Linux. After all, you strongly disagree with the main common denominator of Linux developers, that it be Open Source.
- Werner
-- _________________________________________________________________________ / Werner Almesberger, ICA, EPFL, CH Werner.Almesberger@epfl.ch / /_IN_N_032__Tel_+41_21_693_6621__Fax_+41_21_693_6610_____________________/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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