[lugm.org] the importance of hardware documentation

[Keshwarsingh Nadan]

:-)

I vote for the NDA.

Try asking emulex for their hardware documentation & let's see ..

kn

On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 4:52 PM, Loganaden Velvindron
<gnukid1 at yahoo.co.uk>wrote:

> I've been told that the datasheets are available under an NDA
> by a linux developer.
>
> It's a common practice among linux developers.
>
> Linux is free but I have to sign a draconian agreement to be able
> to play with the source code [FACT]
>
> I think it's time to stop telling ourselves lies & quit spreading
> the word about Linux being a ``free'' kernel and take a hard
> stance towards those involved in this deception.
>
> Let's boycott SiS. However, I'm not sure if a small number of ppl
> stop buying SiS motherboards is going to impact their sales figure
> significantly. The market of desktop PC is made up of 90% windows users.
>
> Linus & Co probably deserve a whack on their heads for this stupid
> practice.
>
> I wish it was some good old trolling, but it's mostly facts ;-)
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Loganaden Velvindron <gnukid1 at yahoo.co.uk>
> *To:* LUGM Discuss Mailing List <discuss at lugm.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, 14 January 2012, 18:54
> *Subject:* Re: [lugm.org] the importance of hardware documentation
>
> Chris & I looked deeply into the SiS code and realised that
> the chipset labeling was pretty misleading. I was able to write
> a diff to make it work.
>
> It's a sad state of affairs. I emailed the Linux developer who works
> on SiS chipsets. He also happens to be a SiS employee. No reply up to
> now. So much for co-operation among free software developers...
>
> 2 years ago, I got a taiwanese USB keyboard that wouldn't work. It had an
> additional keycode. Intrigued I emailed the company, but they didn't
> reply back. I also came up with a diff to make it work on openbsd &
> netbsd by guessing.
>
> This affects not only OpenBSD/NetBSD or FreeBSD. It even affects Linux
> users. How can you fix your chipset support in Linux ? Essentially, this
> kind of support is limited to 1 or 2 people only. They don't share with the
> rest...
>
> Linux is free with shackles
>
>
>
>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* selven <pcthegreat at gmail.com>
> *To:* LUGM Discuss Mailing List <discuss at lugm.org>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 4 January 2012, 13:46
> *Subject:* Re: [lugm.org] the importance of hardware documentation
>
> Am not against NDA, simply because in the short run this may be bad, but
> in the long run, better hardware support means, hardware manufacturers
> would have to have support free software whether they want it or not,
> because this is what the market will want.
>
> On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 1:31 PM, Daniel Shaw <daniel.shaw at point-oh.net>wrote:
>
> On 4 January 2012 11:10, Loganaden Velvindron <gnukid1 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> > Linux developers are very open to signing NDAs just to get hardware
> support:
> > From http://lwn.net/Articles/203562/
>
> > This is exactly what has happened with SiS ! Sorry, you're terribly
> mistaken
> > here.
>
> No, you misunderstood me. I completely agree that NDAs are bad in
> exactly the way you mention. My point is that although it's common
> (far too common) it's not EVERY vendor. There are pleasant exceptions.
>
> Another great example of a very problematic hardware vendor is
> Broadcom (mentioned in your lwn link).  Compare this with Intel. So my
> point is that next time you buys a laptop, pick the one that has intel
> wifi, not broadcom and next time you pick a server get the one with
> Intel NICs, not broadcom.
>
> I'm not disagreeing with your rant - I am offering one possible course
> of action, which is: vote with your wallet.
>
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