Rick Funderburg wrote:
> Neil Schneider wrote:
>> I remember when Adaptic didn't offer Open Source drivers, refused to
>> assist the authors with information so they could write one.
>> BusLogic
>> was a competing brand and supplied good Open Source drivers for
>> their
>> cards.
>
> I'm glad it happened the way it did, but what if BusLogic only had
> closed-source drivers (which allowed most Linux users to work fine)?
> Or
> what if the market for scsi cards consisted of 95% who didn't care if
> there were Linux drivers at all? That's basically where video cards
> are
> now.
Well I guess it's like voting, you get what you deserve. If you don't
care and you buy proprietary hardware that requires non-free drivers,
and Linux slowly dies, then you get what youj deeerve. On the other
hand if you buy only hardware that has free drivers and vote with our
pocketbook, then Linux may continue to exist for years to come.
> Server-oriented hardware is affected more by Linux-leaning market
> demands, but not so much for consumer-aimed products. This is
> especially true for things like WinModems, where the hardware is
> basically a analog <-> digital conversion device. Here, the driver is
> just as much the product as the hardware. With more and more
> functionality being put into the drivers, it will be increasingly
> difficult to get vendors to provide open source drivers.
So don't buy that kind of crap. I don't buy Windmodems, or othe
proprietary crap that allows venodors to get a stranglehold on my
computer. Why would you?
--
Neil Schneider pacneil_at_linuxgeek_dot_net
http://www.paccomp.com
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"When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a
circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already here,
and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are
well trained." - Edward R. Murrow
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