Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in closed source drivers?

["NEURONET" <sz@neuronet.hu>]

From: "Billy Rose" <billyrose@billyrose.net>
> if i were a big monopolistic company that has recently (openly) began 
> to worry about the threat of linux taking some of my market share, i 
> would create an explosive topic on the kernel mailing list and begin 
> dividing up the developers using political agenda such as this. little 
> by little, the cracks in the foundation would start giving way to 
> larger debates. finally, simple ideology would create a divide that 
> causes the developers to choose "sides" and then fragmentation would 
> occur. the ultimate outcome: the unix syndrome. perhaps this is not 
> such a case, but it may as well be from what i have read. sometimes 
> not giving your opinion is worth more than winning a debate. think 
> about it.

Interesting. OTOH, you ain't need nothing but plain 
evolution to see it happen: people thinking publicly 
on a mailing list like this one is just enough (and 
no "help" from a wicked monopolistic company is to 
be assumed ;) ).

I believe it's a property of a topic itself, whether 
it's something for a long discussion, or something 
superfluous. A topic we kill each other for is 
interesting on its own right: it is both irrelevant 
and is only a matter of coincidence when and who 
happens to be the firestarter. 

If an important issue that has the potential to divide 
us or has some other profound effect on our world here, 
one can be sure it WILL just pop up, and we WILL discuss 
it sooner or later, simply because such a topic needs 
to be resolved somehow...

It's just the nature of these intellectual things: 
different minds -- like winds -- shape the surface of 
our common landscape here, over long or short, calm 
or stormy, one-time or recurring debates.

Sab