On 09/13/2011 10:40 AM, julien forgeat wrote:
I am not really very knowledgeable about the whole project but from my point of view, it is mostly a hardware issue. Open source driver (and even that is very hard to find with wifi chips) are not enough, we want to know how the chip works, what registry is used for what purpose and so on, apparently, this kind of knowledge is never freely provided by wifi chip manufacturers.
Dear all, what an interesting discussion!! - I have been following, using, and advertising Nanonote for the last year or so. Therefore, the topic 'host' on USB is and remains a hot one. It actually is Number One for me not to use it much more frequently, and has been the Number One turn-away of everyone until now when it came to advertising it. On the other hand, Wolfgang seems concerned at times about the financial prospects of the project. "No wonder", sorry, that's the best I can say. The major impediment for me is that I would LOVE to carry it around and hook it into all sorts of WiFi-points (here in Malaysia they are abundant, contrary to Germany where it is often difficult to hook up), but I simply can't. Over.
Now back to the exact topic: No, I am not. Yes, I am for total freedom in software as far as possible. So I appreciate the distinction into the 'really free' stuff, and the 'not-so-free' stuff, that I can still add on just to put food on the table. I'd love to have all free software on all of my machines, but then I'd have to harm the environment because I'd have to fly to Europe because I refuse to use Skype. No, I don't need totally free hardware that I can plug into my totally free nanonote (is it??). I'd love to, but there is a clear distinction, much easier in hardware than in software, when I connect a totally non-free WiFi-dongle into my nanonote. I know what I am doing, and I can even put a sticker "Free", in green, on the nanonote, and "Not Free" and in red on the dongle. But I can use it usefully. Try to contact SanDisk for the blueprint of their micro-SD card, and they'll call an ambulance for you.
In short: don't overdo it, please. keep the target in mind, provide a totally free (is it??) core (nanonote, e.g.), and then bite the bullet (easy in this case) and allow the rest of the world to get their jobs done, even with a devilish dongle. USB is a reasonably open standard, so is micro-SD, so what is wrong of interfacing the devil through an open standard with open hardware? Or do you not connect the nanonote to the Internet because Google doesn't use all free hardware and software? Come on, stay realistic. Don't compromise in what you do, I fully agree, but only in your court. Don't try to be an island.
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