AC>> The *reason* binary portable drivers are not implemented in Linux, is
AC>> because Linus and Alan are wielding the power of Linux to *force*
AC>> hardware vendors to implement Open Source device drivers. IMHO this
AC>> is just as bad as Microsoft using their monopoly power to force
AC>> vendors to ship Windows on their PC's.
AC>
AC>You do yourself no favours. You have a personal agenda to ship proprietary
AC>Linux modules. As Linus and I both told you, feel free - but _YOU_ and not
AC>the community can support the results. Its a simple matter of maintainability
AC>and debugging.
AC>
AC>Anyone using your modules is your problem. People with kernel bug reports of
AC>any kind with your modules loaded will be referred to you, and binary
AC>compatibility messes will be yours to deal with. You have our source, we dont
AC>have yours, so you can debug it we cant.
AC>
AC>Its your overhead, created by your product and desires. In the proprietary
AC>world every vendor pays their own support costs, I don't see why it should
AC>be different here.
Amen to Alan's comments but to Kendall... you've spanned the heights of
incredibility here! You have Linux kernel source code which is freely available
but you want the kernel folk to completely revamp their development program/path
to suit your own needs? Since you have such an excellent understanding of what
needs to be done why not use the source and do it yourself... that would solve
all of your problems! If releasing the source code to your drivers doesn't suit
your business model then don't play in the Linux space or do so and provide your
own support as Alan has said. I fail to see why the OS community needs to
support your proprietary source and business model. When you talk about `binary
portability' it makes me shiver... I left that world behind by choice and
personally do not want to revisit it and the idea that Linus and Alan are
`forcing' you, or any other vendor to implement Open Source device drivers is a
joke. The onus is on you to choose to do it or not. If the economic model for
your outfit dictates that your source remains closed, that's fine, but don't
then ask the Linux community to support your efforts! If that's Linus and Alan
twisting your arm then go ahead and add my name to the list as well!
-- Chuck Mead, CTO, MoonGroup Consulting, Inc. <http://moongroup.com> Mail problems? Send "s-u-b-s-c-r-i-b-e mailhelp" (no quotes and no hyphens) in the body of a message to mailhelp-request@moongroup.com. Public key available at: wwwkeys.us.pgp.net
- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/