On Thu, 2008-11-20 at 13:29 +0000, Chris Coulson wrote:
> Michael, > > What you seem to be suggesting is nothing short of harrassment. > Although free drivers are nice, some manufacturers will probably never > provide free drivers (Nvidia, for example). That is their own choice, Maybe a better approach wouold be to recommend to all users that where at all possible they do not buy hardware with non-free drivers. If sales fall even a little, it is a big incentive to provide free drivers. Of course if they think free drivers will lose them sales the reverse is true but I can't see why that would be the case. > and you cannot just bully them in to giving you free and open > drivers. Manufacturers are not obliged to provide you with a free and > open driver, and are perfectly within their rights to choose to > provide you with closed-source proprietary drivers. And if it is not a monopoly you are free to buy hardware from people that do provide free drivers. > If you demand free drivers, then you have a choice - buy hardware that > is supported with free drivers from vendors that support the > development of these free drivers. You don't have to buy hardware from > vendors that only provide proprietary drivers. If everybody did this, > then it would send a loud and clear message to the hardware vendors > that choose only to provide proprietary drivers, without having to > resort to bully-boy tactics like the one you've suggested. But it needs publicising so that the vendors realise they will lose sales. -- Ian Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications A new approach to assessment for learning www.theINGOTs.org - 01827 305940 You have received this email from the following company: The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales. -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
