____/ [H]omer on Thursday 25 October 2007 17:23 : \____
> No that isn't a typo ... they need *more*:
>
> Linux device driver project needs more unsupported devices to work on!
>
> .----
> | Desktop Linux needs drivers. Right? Of course. So why is
> | Novell's Greg Kroah-Hartman, a Linux kernel developer and head of
> | the Linux Driver Project, having to ask people to tell him about
> | devices that need drivers?
> `----
>
> http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS6669895837.html
>
>
> The gist is, that of the few bits of hardware still unsupported by
> Linux, the companies involved still seem reluctant to give the devs the
> specs they need to work on those drivers, *despite* the devs' agreement
> in principle to sign NDAs if necessary.
>
> Quite what it is that Kroah-Hartman is asking for, I'm not sure. Rather
> than seek suggestions from members of the public, shouldn't he be in
> negotiation with the hardware manufacturers?
>
> This also raises the question of why a hardware manufacturer would
> deliberately withhold specifications from those willing to sign NDAs,
> especially given that the devs in question are offering to create
> drivers at zero cost to the manufacturer.
>
> Certainly the driver devs cannot possibly know about every piece of
> hardware in the world, so it is naturally a good idea to have
> communication with the public about what hardware they would like
> supported, but I can't help but feel this should not be the focus of
> their approach. They should be raising public awareness of manufacturers
> who seem to have some kind of anti-Linux agenda, creating high profile
> campaigns to convince these manufacturers to capitulate, and getting to
> the root-cause of their unwillingness to cooperate on Linux drivers.
>
> Anyway, as Kroah-Hartman points out, the "problem" is nonetheless
> grossly overstated. Linux driver support surpasses that of XP, for
> hardware old and new. Vista doesn't even qualify for this debate (indeed
> Dell seem to be pulling out of Vista driver support altogether - see
> recent post). But for the few hardware companies that do seem to have
> some kind of anti-Linux agenda, there does need to be a concerted effort
> to break their bigotry, and bring them over from the dark side.
He also addressed the issue of /perception/, which shows you how Microsoft
marketing (in favour of Windows 'support') and FUD and stereotypes ("Linux has
hardware issues") played a role.
I duped by accident.
--
~~ Best of wishes
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