On Fri, 9 Aug 2002 14:25, Giuseppe Ghib� wrote: > In other cases, instead companies released binary only drivers but > abandoned it (e.g. the ESS module for ESS based winmodems, > or the Lexmark printer drivers) so they would work only on old > kernels/distributions.
That by itself looks like a fine justification for Mandrake's policy of `GPL only please'. I agree that trade secret issues can block a source release, but that is not the reason which the vast majority of manufacturers hoard their sources. Even NVidia could probably ask Linux-friendly SGI for a better GLX licence, and get one. It would be interesting to send an OSS copy of GLX to NVidia and ask them if there are any other IP issues standing between them and a completely OSS set of drivers. Cheers; Leon
