29 Nov
2004
29 Nov
'04
2:17 p.m.
On Mon, 2004-11-29 at 16:59, Jack O'Quin wrote:
Joe Hartley <jh(a)brainiac.com> writes:
Jack, i think it rather violates the freedom of their *customers* to use
the product they've purchased with the OS of their choice.
I think if RME believes releasing the data on
their Firewire audio
poses a threat to their competitive edge, they probably have a point.
Right or wrong, it is their business and their choice.
While I'm a huge fan of OSS, I have to
respect when companies like
NVidia release binary-only drivers for a device. I'm just glad that
they do, when so many companies will only release for Windoze, or for
Windoze and Mac only. I think NVidia's support, for example, is as good
for Linux as it is for any other platform. Do all bugs get fixed?
Nope, and they don't in 99% of OSS projects, either.
I believe in free speech, and this includes the right to remain
silent. Insisting that RME release code when they would rather not
violates *their* freedom. I value libre software for being minimally
coercive to both authors and users.
Basically i think that people here are just *too* polite to stand up and
thrash the companies for being careless. Because it's how it is.
Marek