16 Dec
2004
16 Dec
'04
10:45 p.m.
LAU --
Correct me if I'm wrong here ... but ... lack of supported hardware is
part of the reason people don't migrate to *nix operating systems; and
another is the frightening complexity involved in doing anything with
*nix which the OS and its software inherits from the relatively small,
disorganized, underfunded community. add to this a dash of social
ignorance and general complacency -- perhaps some nearsightedness too?
-- and i think thats where we, the OpenSource community, stand with
respect to the masses.
It is difficult to say which of the above issues is the biggest
hindrance to Open Source domination. However, hardware support is
crucial; and thats a non-debatable fact. Concordantly, it seems to me
that, if our goal is to spread cheer and free software throughout the
land to our fellow men, we MUST INSIST on developing drivers for
everything that has achieved either extreme popularity or extreme
utility.
By INSIST i mean the following [taking this RME situation for
example]: a group of people [some ALSA-dev people, lets say] speaks to
RME about developing the drivers, agreeing to sign not only an NDA but
some other agreement which has the following [or similar] conditions:
(1) RME controls the source however it wants [open or closed] and for
as long as it wants. (2) the NDA team is not allowed the exclusive
right to modify the source, RME can do so in-house if it chooses, but
both groups must be notified of alterations and be allowed ample time
to inspect the source to make sure said changes do not break
everything before the new code is used to generate new binaries. (3)
RME and the NDA team jointly distribute pre-compiled drivers to LAUs.
[so on and so forth].
Everyone's happy -- RME discloses nothing and therefore risks nothing,
*nix gets compatibility and therefore a potentially larger user base,
which leads to potentially larger development teams, communities,
which leads to ... [imagination required beyond this point].
Obviously this is not perfect, but i think we can all agree that a
half-open- and half-closed-source model is better than the current
situation with regard to RME and Linux.
Thanks in advance for any comments; and special thanks in advance to
anyone who gets the ball rolling toward the establishment of some
relationship like this with RME or any other manufacturer: you will
have my blessing and full cooperation.
Best regards as always,
--vord