Re: ACX100 Firmware Licensing

From: Michael Nottebrock <michaelnottebrock_at_gmx.net>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 01:35:20 +0200
On Friday, 29. October 2004 21:44, Sam Leffler wrote:

> > "Activism pays off for OpenBSD"
> > http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/29/1098992287663.html
>
> And this form of activism also turns off lots of vendors.

That would mean there's anybody to actually turn off. Like you say yourself:

> The open 
> source market is virtually non-existent to vendors so you will never get
> anyone to do anything by arguing they should make a change because it
> will increase their sales.  All the vendors Theo&co are going after are
> bit players with inferior products that are in trouble in one way or
> another.

... and are widespread as built-in devices in today's cheap massmarket 
hardware. And OSS operating systems need cheap massmarket hardware to run on.

> The proper way to make things happen is to find a vendor that 
> is basing a product on an OSS and use their influence to make things
> happen.

So you're saying OpenBSD should find themselves a Yahoo, Inc and use them to 
pressure vendors and that's the decent way then? Ridiculous.

I myself returned the pair of el-cheapo TI-1131 wireless nics I initially 
bought and got Atheros-based hardware instead, but many laptop users with 
built-in hardware who don't want to run Windows do not have that choice. If 
Theo tries to pave a way for them, it's a good thing.

-- 
   ,_,   | Michael Nottebrock               | lofi_at_freebsd.org
 (/^ ^\) | FreeBSD - The Power to Serve     | http://www.freebsd.org
   \u/   | K Desktop Environment on FreeBSD | http://freebsd.kde.org

Received on Fri Oct 29 2004 - 21:35:38 UTC

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