Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1750761AbWCIPc1 (ORCPT ); Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:32:27 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1752004AbWCIPc1 (ORCPT ); Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:32:27 -0500 Received: from mx1.redhat.com ([66.187.233.31]:62425 "EHLO mx1.redhat.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750761AbWCIPc0 (ORCPT ); Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:32:26 -0500 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 10:32:12 -0500 (EST) From: Rik van Riel X-X-Sender: riel@cuia.boston.redhat.com To: Matthias Schniedermeyer cc: Anshuman Gholap , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [future of drivers?] a proposal for binary drivers. In-Reply-To: <440EC2BA.7010108@citd.de> Message-ID: References: <20060308102731.GO27946@ftp.linux.org.uk> <440EC2BA.7010108@citd.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 948 Lines: 25 On Wed, 8 Mar 2006, Matthias Schniedermeyer wrote: > But there is a planet-size catch: > Vendors think in money. So if you have a device that is end of line most > vendors couldn't care less if you can't use it anymore with current systems. > Given that the vendor is still in business after all! It's worse than that, actually. Your old device no longer working is not a neutral thing for the manufacturer, but actually a GOOD thing, since you will be forced to buy a new device - one that has a driver for a new version of the OS. Binary only drivers are a good way to ensure that devices become obsolete sooner than they would otherwise. Not so good for users, though... -- All Rights Reversed - 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/