Re: [PATCH] Blacklist binary-only modules lying about their license

Timothy Miller
2004-04-30T16:06:06Z

Peter Williams wrote:

>> "DriverLoader technology is the ideal Linux solution to support
>> devices for
>> which no adequate native open-source drivers are available. It also
>> allows
>> vendors to drastically reduce time to market or eliminate the need to
>> support
>> multiple drivers for Windows and Linux. By using the same driver on both
>> platforms, significant resources can be saved."
>>
>> Rusty was right.
>
>
> Why did you omit the next paragraph (which completes the story):
>
> "We have attempted to reduce the inconvenience of binary-only drivers by
> separating the proprietary code from the operating-system specific code.
> The latter is provided in source form, allowing users to install the
> drivers under any supported version (2.4 or later) of the Linux kernel."

While it does allow for Linux to get certain kinds of drivers quicker,
it turns hardware developers into slackers who don't want to REALLY
support Linux and eats away at the spirit of Linux as an open system.

What you're doing may short-term enhance hardware support for Linux, but
in the long term, it is a set-back for Linux because it does not
encourage hardware vendors to support Linux directly and even pushes
true Linux support further into the future.