28 Nov
2004
28 Nov
'04
9:17 a.m.
Lee Revell <rlrevell(a)joe-job.com> writes:
On Sat, 2004-11-27 at 15:43 -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
Just to save people some googling here is a thread that documents the
long and colorful history of pro audio hardware manufacturers blatantly
ripping each other off, often leaving the victims with no legal
recourse:
http://homerecording.com/bbs/archive/index.php/t-74439.html
IMO the issue is not whether RME's concern is valid - clearly it is.
Sorry, but arguing otherwise makes us look stupid and naive. The issue
is how to address this concern. If that means a closed source Linux
driver, fine.
No, not fine, not for me, not at all. Simplified, I'll buy FireWire interfaces
from the first manufacturer who comes out with proper open source linux
support and the features I need. For all others, sorry, no bussiness with
me. Especially since there are PCI interfaces around, and if I really
wanted to do pro audio on my laptop I could get a PCMCIA card as well.
Did this
happen?
Maybe not to them but look at Mackie and Behringer. Maybe the reason no firewire hardware is supported is
because Behringer
and their ilk would instantly have all the info they need to copy the
design and mass produce it.
I highly doubt this argtument really holds, especially since we're just
talking a driver here. You aren't exactly getting a hardware design file
or something, you just get the source on how to drive the hardware.
Doesn't matter how cheap the device is to design -
it will _always_
be cheaper to rip someone off than design it yourself.
Well then, simple, go through the linux sources and rip
all the manufacturers off, you should be very rich in a matter of time, right?
No, wrong.
--
CYa,
Mario