Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Sat, 4 Jan 2003 03:59:05 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Sat, 4 Jan 2003 03:59:05 -0500 Received: from adedition.com ([216.209.85.42]:50701 "EHLO mark.mielke.cc") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Sat, 4 Jan 2003 03:59:03 -0500 Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 04:16:00 -0500 From: Mark Mielke To: "Shane R. Stixrud" Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in non-free drivers? Message-ID: <20030104091600.GA8355@mark.mielke.cc> References: <20030104073430.GA7518@mark.mielke.cc> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.4i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 3257 Lines: 66 On Sat, Jan 04, 2003 at 12:52:26AM -0800, Shane R. Stixrud wrote: > Your position is based on the flawed assumption that the software world > will ever have enough functionality or run out of problems to solve. Even > in the roofing analogy its not every house has the same roof. Software is > only going to get more complex not less. My position is based on the observation that quite a significant portion of features implemented for open source projects such as Linux are provided by people that *cannot* directly benefit from the fruits of their labour. Post a problem, or a bug report, and it is *likely* that somebody will try to solve your problem, even if they do not have your hardware, or their paying job does not relate to the open source project at all. It is based on good will, glory, thrill, enjoyment, distraction, and many other benefits that do not put food on the table for your benefactor's family. This balance needs to be respected, not insulted. nVidia's driver is not a patch to the roof of your house. nVidia's driver is software that is released to allow Linux users the freedom to use nVidia hardware. nVidia makes a lot more money from MSWIN32 users that it does on Linux users. The software is protected either because nVidia does not believe it is legal to distribute the source to their code, or because they do not believe the benefits are worth the hassle. The Linux community cannot lose something that it never had in the first place. Some people think that every company that needs an enhancement is willing to pay people to enhance open source products, and that the result will be returned to the public. The only real way that I can see this working is if the Linux community as a whole created a world-wide union that required all companies that wished to enhance Linux would use to provide the enhancement. The pool of developers in this union would be organized by knowledge and skill. The union representantives would negotiate fair trades with companies, encouraging companies to pool resources for features that are needed by several companies. Anything less is a little bit wishy washy. Maybe companies will pay to have features implemented. Maybe companies will return the features to the public. Maybe companies won't wait until somebody does it for free. Maybe people who spend 37.5 hours a week working on Linux will have food on the table for their family. Maybe a system exists. Maybe companies know about the system. Feeding ones family cannot be based on maybe. mark -- mark@mielke.cc/markm@ncf.ca/markm@nortelnetworks.com __________________________ . . _ ._ . . .__ . . ._. .__ . . . .__ | Neighbourhood Coder |\/| |_| |_| |/ |_ |\/| | |_ | |/ |_ | | | | | | \ | \ |__ . | | .|. |__ |__ | \ |__ | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them... http://mark.mielke.cc/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/