Slug people,
I'd like to get a discussion going about licensing things through hardware or having licenses on drivers.... I think sometimes it is great like the commercial license for the GSM codec MS net meeting uses in the DSP chip in my quicknet card. But what really shits me is when a vendor has made Linux drivers but chooses not to release them (ether in binary or better open source) to everyone - just a few entities that pay and or sign documents. Is it right to make people pay for after-market Linux drivers from 3rd party vendors - when the 3rd parties (Im talking Xig, MetroX, OSS, Mandrake, the commercial CUPS driver ppl ... not to name names) just are people who have "relationships" with the hardware manufacturer. I bought my OSS license in 97 and told it would last forever (from the sales hype at the time). In 2000 they solicited more money just because I bought a newer crystal card than what I previously had. A few months ago I bought a Lexmark Z12 only to find out Mandrake has the drivers but I have to give them $150 for the boxed "commercial" version of their Linux distribution to get cups drivers. I paid OSS twice but I'll be dammed if I'll pay mandrake Inc to get my printer going. I feel like committing ethical software piracy. If Lexmark can give the driver source to Mandrake, I should get equal treatment - after all I bought their bloody hardware. Any one who would like to participate in such venture may send me package no questions asked :_) These 3rd party device vendors should just rack off. It should be free or not at all. It isn't right to have "Linux hardware taxes" to replace the Microsoft OEM tax when it eventually goes. Why do some vendors still need to guard the API to their hardware? Let me know what you all think. Cheers, Luke McKee Systems Administrator RTS Realtime Systems Pty Ltd Ph: +61 2 8259 3921 Fax: +61 2 9259 3999 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
