[Consortium] Re: [linux-audio-dev] Re: linuxaudio.org

[Dave Phillips]

Greetings:

  I've decided to avoid this entire "discussion", primarily because I 
have too much other work that needs to be done. However, WRT 4Front vs. 
ALSA : It should also be mentioned that 4Front gives major support to 
the XMMS project, certainly my favorite open-source media player. They 
have also been quite helpful to me in various ways when I wrote my book, 
nor have they ever asked that I favor them in reviews or other 
journalism. Their response to ALSA has been supportive and intelligent 
(see my interview with them in the LJ archives). And lest it be 
forgotten, they also make a quality product. The OSS/Linux installer is 
a model for "how it should be done", and the product itself works 
exactly as advertised.

  And with that comment I return to the shadows...

Best,

++ dp



Daniel James wrote:

>>>Just to say  that obviously the consortium  is not entirely made
>>>up of corporate  "wolves"    who don't know   or  don't  care 
>>>about freedom (honestly I don't  see how one could reach  this
>>>conclusion looking at the current members' list, but anyway).
>>>      
>>>
>>Compare 4Front vs. ALSA
>>    
>>
>
>OK, let's do that. 4Front is a company which produces both proprietary 
>(OSS) and libre software (xmms). It has a couple of staff and a 
>modest turnover. ALSA developers are employed by Novell, which now 
>also produces both kinds of software. Apart from being the granddaddy 
>of proprietary networks, Novell is a multi-million dollar 
>multi-national company which probably has thousands of staff.
>
>The idea that OSS is 'corporate' but ALSA is not just makes me laugh. 
>Even when it was sponsored by SUSE, the ALSA project had far bigger 
>corporate backing than 4Front. SUSE was invested in substantially by 
>IBM and other companies over many years.
>  
>