-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Monday 15 December 2003 8:24 am, JoeHill wrote: > On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:11:39 +0200 > > Void lon iXaarii <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > well .. these are my feelings right now. Waiting and dreaming for a > > beginner friendly (and gamer friendly) Mandrake. > > These issues would be mitigated, for the most part, if you had plonked down > a few bones for your Mandrake OS. > > When you buy the boxed set, IIRC, it comes with the commercial/closed > source software you need, like the *NVIDIA RPM's*. > > You can't expect too much when you download an OS for absolutely nuthin'. > The fact that there are about a gazillion howto's about installing Nvidia's > drivers, one of which I'm sure is on the Mandrake Twiki, and that there are > free help lists like this one are just a bonus.
In addition to those valid points, a possible explanation to the oft repeated question; "Why doesn't the 'Mandrake Linux/pick your distribution' download edition come with the drivers for hardware-X's latest geewhiz go-fast killer Wham-O integrator?" In specific; NVidia, as well as ATI and quite a number of hardware manufacturers; don't necessarily own all of the technology and/or methods used to make their latest toys. What they own in the main is their own technology, and a license and/or contract with the owners of any other included technology, to use that other proprietary technology to make a blended whole. Since download editions are usually (always with Mandrake, others?) released under the GPL that means these items are not allowed to be used. It's a matter of licensing and permissions; and has nothing to do with "Free" as in no cost. It means the owner(s) of the technology or architecture have reserved exclusive rights to their own property or technology under a proprietary Copyright, and if you want to use it you have to agree to their terms. That means a distribution can't redistribute any technology under the GPL that isn't already released under the GPL by it's owner. Conflicting Copyrights and the owner of the technology will always trump the distributor of the GPL'd distribution. Take this _*opinion*_ with a bucket of salt since IANAL. (I am not a lawyer.) But I have read and tried to understand the GPL, and the simple parts (???) of relevant Copyright law for the U.S and Canada. For Europe you're on your own. The law gives me vapours, lawyers even more so. Charlie - -- Edmonton,AB,Canada User #244963 at http://counter.li.org Mandrake Linux release 9.2 (FiveStar) for i586 kernel 2.4.22-21.tmb.1mdk 09:29:40 up 21:02, 1 user, load average: 0.08, 0.06, 0.09 Every cloud has a silver lining; you should have sold it, and bought titanium. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/3eZwZqvqlrLPr5YRAurjAJ0ZJFiFcFRrXWeduvNgJXGM7WPIMACdGFuM afV/+TUvvIsvi8WTbxjihN0= =tWv+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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