Hi all, On Fri, Sep 13, 2002 at 04:31:54PM +0200, Ralph Metzler wrote: > > we just want to inform you that we stopped all our development efforts at > linuxtv.org. There will be no more check-ins by us. We will start our own > driver branch and will publish patches and new drivers somewhere else. > Details will be announced at www.metzlerbros.de in the next few weeks.
We Convergence guys have been thinking about what the reasons for this are, and what we could possibly do to avoid a split in the development of the Linux DVB drivers and API. The goal of Convergence has always been to promote Open Source development of the Linux DVB drivers and the DVB API (which was originally developed by Nokia), and to make this API become _the_ standard DVB API for Linux. While the drivers have always been released under the GPL, Convergence put some restrictions on third party contributions, in order to retain the ability to dual-license the code developed by Convergence, i.e. use a modified version of the code for proprietary projects where it is often not possible to avoid NDAs. This comes from a time where the drivers for the Siemens DVB-S card were an integral part of Convergence's business model. Nowadays Convergence develops system software and drivers for proprietary set-top-box hardware, and our proprietary drivers are based on the GPLed DVB driver framework, and use the standard API. This is of mutual benefit because the Linux DVB communtity profits from our bugfixes and enhancements, e.g. new frontend drivers. Thus the Convergence management agreed to drop the dual-licensing restrictions from the DVB-drivers, and simply publish the drivers and documentation under the GPL. We would also like people to stop thinking about the DVB API and drivers as the "Convergence drivers". We think of it as "the Linux DVB API" and "the Linux DVB drivers", where we'll participate like others by discussing on the mailing list and by comitting patches. Convergence wants to promote open discussion and development of the API and drivers by hosting the linuxtv.org CVS, website and mailing list. This means that it will be easier for other people to get CVS accounts, and easier for people with CVS accounts to accept patches. Regards, Johannes Stezenbach (software developer) Jacob Schr�der (head of development) -- Info: To unsubscribe send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe linux-dvb" as subject.
