Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1750704AbVLHHrE (ORCPT ); Thu, 8 Dec 2005 02:47:04 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1750720AbVLHHrE (ORCPT ); Thu, 8 Dec 2005 02:47:04 -0500 Received: from mx.laposte.net ([81.255.54.11]:15743 "EHLO mx.laposte.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750704AbVLHHrB (ORCPT ); Thu, 8 Dec 2005 02:47:01 -0500 Message-ID: <4397E427.2070702@laposte.net> Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2005 08:43:35 +0100 From: Nicolas Mailhot User-Agent: Mail/News 1.5 (X11/20051129) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Felix Oxley CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Geert Uytterhoeven , Arjan van de Ven , Jesse Barnes , Pekka Enberg , Jon Masters , Grahame White , Benjamin LaHaise , "Randy.Dunlap" , Lars Marowsky-Bree , "linux-os ((Dick Johnson))" , Rik van Riel , Dirk Steuwer , Andrea Arcangeli , Lee Revell Subject: Re: Linux Hardware Quality Labs (was: Linux in a binary world... a doomsday scenario) References: <6DAD0850-4943-416E-9E7B-095C6B412DD0@oxley.org> In-Reply-To: <6DAD0850-4943-416E-9E7B-095C6B412DD0@oxley.org> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.93.1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2183 Lines: 47 Felix Oxley wrote: > Unlike previous lists of equipment that works with Linux, this would of > course have to be centrally administered. > Simply, hardware manufacturers would be able to use the LHQL logo > (whatever it looks like or is called) once their kit had been certified, > the primary requirement for which would be either that a fully featured > open source driver was available or that all the relevant documentation > had been put in to the public domain so that anybody could write one. I think the current focus on the logo idea is pretty sad. The only real "feature" a logo adds is it will have to be maintained by Someone Else. Which is always nice. Except when the real info is in the kernel maintainers heads, as is the real love of free software, being maintained by Someone Else means it'll fail. A good exhaustive online centralised hardware database, blessed and maintained by kernel people, will have influence with or without a logo. A pretty logo/HQL program without kernel people involvement will fail quickly. The problem with maintaining your own database is its a lot of work (as Lee Revell pointed). However, if kernel people don't want the system to be abused, distorted, etc they'll have to make this effort. Kernel people complain users don't buy the right hardware, but they don't bother pointing out which hardware is good. I'm pretty sure when *they* buy new systems they don't do the long hours of googling and ML analysis they'd want the users to perform (because right now that's what needed to find out which hardware is linux-friendly) Also, kernel people use the power of the internet all day round but put their faith in a paper logo. Which is pretty ridiculous. Give users a good database and they won't need the paper thingy (not to mention drivers are completed after hardware ships, so all the already-packaged hardware won't get a linux logo by magic) Regards, -- Nicolas Mailhot - 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/