An Open Letter To The Linux Enthusiasts. 4179
Dyn0 Mu77
Yo Mike, Absolutes like "everyone" and "never" are easy to shoot down... like you just did. But the majority of people...
A large percentage of Linux drivers are developed by the manufacturers themselves and most of those make it into the kernel. Others are developed by Linux developers working for someone else or on their own time with reference material provided by the manufacturer, sometimes under NDA but other times not. The remainder are developed by very bright individuals who reverse engineer the device and write specs themselves. These later drivers are of course slower to get created and more prone to error since the manufacturer refuses to release information needed to develop the driver without reverse engineering.
begin virus.txt.scr 7 You don't actually mean that, do you (you failed to include the irony or sarcasm tags) Because this actually was flatfish, who also posts as...
Not only that but fewer and fewer developers are showing interest in reverse engineering products just so the manufacturer can sell a few more to customers they don't care about since more and more manufacturers DO care about their customers enough to provide drivers and-or specs to Linux developers. Fewer and fewer Linux users are willing to purchase products from manufacturers that don't care about them enough to make sure they can use the product they purchased in the OS they choose. Linux developers began making it a habbit to advertise which manufacturers "played nice" and which didn't and Linux users who needed such a product would primarily purchase from the former type of manufacturer. This *has* had an effect on the willingness of many manufacturers to develop and-or release specs for their products. Manufacturers are beginning to understand that their customers have the right to choose the OS they wish to use and if they want to be able to compete in such a marketplace they need to share the information necissary to use their products. There are a few, like digidesign who don't play nice with ANYBODY, that are very slow to realize this; they either will or they will go out of business...
The whole "kludged and reverse engineered" thing has not been true for quite some time now. You can easily design a computer to be 100% Linux compatible by purchasing from companies who care about their customers.
An Open Letter To The Linux Enthusiasts. 4180
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