Hello,I sent the following reply to Jeroen, then read some of the responses ad nauseum. Without intent to add to the noise, I stated my philosophy. Like any pious missionary, I welcome sinners to the fold any time they repent, and all past sins are forgiven. If they sin again, well, that's another matter. I said:I am currently working at Philips in Eindhoven, The Netherlands for my
graduation.
Here we make amongst other thing USB webcams. For these there is an
excelent linux driver, but the author had to sign an NDA in order to get
the specifications of the communication protocol. I have been trying to
convince people here to drop at least part of the NDA so that an open
source driver will be possible. So far the answer has been no.It turns out that open source osses are considerd to have to litle users
to be a valid market. I was however promissed that if I could show that
is was much bigger then they thought they would reconsider.
I therefor urge everyone to write an email to my email address at
philips: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
You do not have to buy a camera, just state that IF you were buying one
you would buy one with opensource drivers available.
Please write polite mails and mention 'open source' or your opensource
os in the subject.
I will need at least a few thousand emails.Jeroen Vreeken
[EMAIL PROTECTED]p.s. I am writing this from home so DO NOT answer to my private address,
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"Jeroen,
I will be buying several USB products, including a web camera, in the
next few
months, and I will only consider products for which there are open
source
drivers. I believe these are the only ones which have proper
support; From
following various linux mail lists, I have found that problems are
fixed and the
fixes are available within days (sometimes only a few hours).
This is particularly
true when the vendor provides the source based upon detailed knowledge
of the
hardware interface. Experience with reverse-engineered drivers
has not been as
good, but is still quite positive.
Past experience with proprietary software says you wait for the next
release if
you get a fix at all. I will only accept this situation where
the need is urgent and
no alternative supplier of a comparable product exists. "
-- Joe Ferguson, ApeX Systems Integration Corp. Voice: 919.468.8150 FAX: 919.468.5288 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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