Ethics Violation
I apologize to XFree86, as a group and to the members thereof, for my confusion of them with the Open Group, in my previous post. Branden Robinson brought my mistake to my attention, and promptly. Let me thank him for this. I have become familiar with Branden's name as a result of seeing it many times as the developer or co-developer of X-based software within the Debian community, in other words, software that we all use.
Ethics Violation in XFree86
I am a Debian user. Doesn't Debian have an ethics policy? What about software, even free software, whose technical documentation plainly and bluntly lies about its capabilities? I refer to XFree86's pervasively well-documented feature of supporting multiheaded (multiple monitored) systems. I have just spent some $450 for a monitor and a card, based on my perusal of the technical documentation, and attempted to hook up the monitor to my PC, beside the other one. It took me a week to delve into the documents, write all the scripts and put everything together. Only to discover at the end of my money and time that nothing worked or could work. I would have been better off to buy a 19'' monitor, had I not been misled --- only now I can't. My money is spent on an unusable monitor. And I'll bet that I am not the first or the last to be caught so. While I appreciate the efforts of those in the free sofware community, I also fully well and reasonably expect developers not to knowingly tell outright lies. There is an expectation raised in the minds of those who use documentation which is technical that it is, indeed, technical and meets a higher standard of truth than mere expository literature. The expectation is given further given merit when the documentation is that of a widely used package and normally, usually meets that higher standard of truth for everyday purposes. The ethics violation is worse when it occurs in such a situation. What good is free software when people are deliberately misled about what it can do? How many rotten apples in the barrell does it take to infect the good ones there? Regards, Jesse Gilman The Atlantum
Re: Ethics Violation in XFree86
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 05 Apr 1998 23:29:53 -0400, Jesse Gilman wrote: What about software, even free software, whose technical documentation plainly and bluntly lies about its capabilities? I refer to XFree86's pervasively well-documented feature of supporting multiheaded (multiple monitored) systems. OK. After reading this I cd'd to /usr/doc/X11/ and read XFree86-FAQ.gz. In less than a minute I found the following: Q.A14- Can I use more than one video card in the same machine with XFree86? Although it is technically possible to use multiple PCI-based SVGA cards in the same machine, none of the servers currently support this. The VGA16 and Mono servers are both capable of running both a VGA compatible card and a non-VGA compatible monochrome card in the same machine. For XFree86-4.0 we are working on true multi head support. I have just spent some $450 for a monitor and a card, based on my perusal of the technical documentation Then I fail to see how you could miss that clear indication that XFree86 does not support the feature you were seeking. Anything which is readily found by someone in under a minute with a simple search isn't all that hard to find at all, IMHO. It took me a week to delve into the documents, write all the scripts and put everything together. A week to delve into the documents and not once did you read the FAQ? What good is free software when people are deliberately misled about what it can do? How many rotten apples in the barrell does it take to infect the good ones there? I dunno, but before you go off half-cocked again, might I suggest reading ALL the documentation, especially the one clearly marked as answering the *F*requently *A*sked *Q*uestions. - -- Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your ICQ: 5107343 | main connection to the switchboard of souls. - ---+- -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: PGPsdk version 1.0 (C) 1997 Pretty Good Privacy, Inc iQA/AwUBNwgx7Xpf7K2LbpnFEQJqNwCgxQdFM9bJk9nbiVLmXyqBT/bhV9wAoLc+ KJ1IGHHQ04g9ZN7I8PnNAm99 =fV4o -END PGP SIGNATURE-
Re: Ethics Violation in XFree86
I need not add much to what Steve Lamb said on this subject, but it sounds to me like you have confused XFree86 with the Open Group, and specifically the latter's release of X11R6.4, which supports the XINERAMA extension for multi-head support. XFree86 4.0 will be based on X11R6.4. They might have had it sooner but the Open Group played games with the X license last year. Next time, check your sources. And if you're going to make charges of unethical behavior, you'd better be ready with support for them. As in, URL's to this alleged false advertising. -- G. Branden Robinson | Debian GNU/Linux |The software said it required Windows [EMAIL PROTECTED] |3.1 or better, so I installed Linux. cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu/~branden/ | pgpZ6hNaUX4si.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Ethics Violation in XFree86 (also: What do YOU lose with Linux)
-Original Message- From: Jesse Gilman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: debian-user@lists.debian.org debian-user@lists.debian.org Date: Sunday, April 04, 1999 10:34 PM Subject: Ethics Violation in XFree86 lies about its capabilities? I refer to XFree86's pervasively well-documented feature of supporting multiheaded (multiple monitored) systems. I have just spent some $450 for a monitor and a card, Jesse, you can still salvage your investment (thanks to the diversity in the free software community, BTW). Just take a look at http://www.ggi-project.org . You can have even a TV wall powered by your Debian box if you want. What I've learned playing with Linux within past several years was that there is very rarely true to say that Linux does not have something (software, functionality, capability, application etc.). Unlike other (commercial) OSs which you can see only as a ready to ship products, on a store's shelf, in case of Linux we have to remember always that there is also third category of things (besides those 'Linux have' and 'Linux doesn't have): there are also things Linux is about to have. Do you need a piece of a new functionality? I can guarantee you that there is a project lurking somewhere in the Net which satisfies or will satisfy your expactations. George Kakol [EMAIL PROTECTED] CYMPAK, INC. tel (215) 826-9555 fax (215) 826-9558 3930 Nebraska St. Newportville, PA 19056
