Hi Uwe, Maybe my message was too extreme? What I would like to highlight is I think there is a huge difference between using and contributing.
As a user, I do compromise a lot (this is a gmail address I am using hehe) but when it comes to contributing, I prefer to do it in a way that preserves as much user freedom as it is possible, not out of pride (I am actually a very unskilled hacker when comparing to many of my friends) but because it is what I want to promote and because I think it brings some different kind of value. Maybe an example will be easier, I use google maps a lot because it is convenient and saves me a lot of time, but if I have to create any mapping related web app, I would rather turn to openstreetmap, even if it lacks accuracy in the city I am living in. Cheers, Julien On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 11:42 AM, Uwe Dippel <[email protected]> wrote: > On 09/13/2011 10:40 AM, julien forgeat wrote: >> >> I am not really very knowledgeable about the whole project but from my >> point of view, it is mostly a hardware issue. Open source driver (and >> even that is very hard to find with wifi chips) are not enough, we >> want to know how the chip works, what registry is used for what >> purpose and so on, apparently, this kind of knowledge is never freely >> provided by wifi chip manufacturers. > > Dear all, what an interesting discussion!! - I have been following, using, > and advertising Nanonote for the last year or so. Therefore, the topic > 'host' on USB is and remains a hot one. It actually is Number One for me not > to use it much more frequently, and has been the Number One turn-away of > everyone until now when it came to advertising it. On the other hand, > Wolfgang seems concerned at times about the financial prospects of the > project. "No wonder", sorry, that's the best I can say. The major impediment > for me is that I would LOVE to carry it around and hook it into all sorts of > WiFi-points (here in Malaysia they are abundant, contrary to Germany where > it is often difficult to hook up), but I simply can't. Over. > > Now back to the exact topic: No, I am not. Yes, I am for total freedom in > software as far as possible. So I appreciate the distinction into the > 'really free' stuff, and the 'not-so-free' stuff, that I can still add on > just to put food on the table. I'd love to have all free software on all of > my machines, but then I'd have to harm the environment because I'd have to > fly to Europe because I refuse to use Skype. > No, I don't need totally free hardware that I can plug into my totally free > nanonote (is it??). I'd love to, but there is a clear distinction, much > easier in hardware than in software, when I connect a totally non-free > WiFi-dongle into my nanonote. I know what I am doing, and I can even put a > sticker "Free", in green, on the nanonote, and "Not Free" and in red on the > dongle. But I can use it usefully. > Try to contact SanDisk for the blueprint of their micro-SD card, and they'll > call an ambulance for you. > > In short: don't overdo it, please. keep the target in mind, provide a > totally free (is it??) core (nanonote, e.g.), and then bite the bullet (easy > in this case) and allow the rest of the world to get their jobs done, even > with a devilish dongle. USB is a reasonably open standard, so is micro-SD, > so what is wrong of interfacing the devil through an open standard with open > hardware? Or do you not connect the nanonote to the Internet because Google > doesn't use all free hardware and software? Come on, stay realistic. Don't > compromise in what you do, I fully agree, but only in your court. Don't try > to be an island. > > Uwe > > > _______________________________________________ > Qi Hardware Discussion List > Mail to list (members only): [email protected] > Subscribe or Unsubscribe: > http://lists.en.qi-hardware.com/mailman/listinfo/discussion > _______________________________________________ Qi Hardware Discussion List Mail to list (members only): [email protected] Subscribe or Unsubscribe: http://lists.en.qi-hardware.com/mailman/listinfo/discussion
