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Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 14:56:15 -0500
To: John Cavan <johnc@damncats.org>
From: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com>
Subject: Re: Linux stifles innovation... [way O.T.]
Cc: jesse@cats-chateau.net, A.J.Scott@casdn.neu.edu,
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At 05:59 PM 02/16/2001, John Cavan wrote:
>Dennis wrote:
> > objective, arent we?
>
>You might ask yourself the same question...
>
> > For example, if there were six different companies that marketed ethernet
> > drivers for the eepro100, you'd have a choice of which one to buy..perhaps
> > with different "features" that were of value to you. Instead, you have
> > crappy GPL code that locks up under load, and its not worth spending
> > corporate dollars to fix it because you have to give away your work for
> > free under GPL. And since there is a "free" driver that most people can
> > use, its not worth building a better mousetrap either because the market is
> > too small. So, the handful of users with problems get to "fit it
> > themselves", most of whom cant of course.
>
>A large bulk of the investment in Linux is starting to come in from
>hardware manufacturers, notably IBM. These companies see Linux as a
>means to sell more hardware, not as a means to sell software. This is
>critical, because it means that it IS worth the money to make the driver
>perform correctly, GPL or not, because a bad driver means no sales.


Thats wrong. The eepro100 is a great example. It works for most people, so 
the market for an improved one is very limited. Your market is not the 
whole community, only the community that needs something better. IBM will 
simply blame linux if it cant handle a situation. They arent supporting 
linux, they are only taking advantage of the fact that people want it.

BSDI is distributing FreeBSD now. They havent done anything useful to 
support it. They are just cashing in on it.

DB


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