Re: [PATCH] clarify message and give support contact for non-GPL modules
From: Marc Boucher
Date: Sat May 01 2004 - 17:55:08 EST
On May 1, 2004, at 6:22 PM, Sean Estabrooks wrote:
- The word "tainted" is confusing and needlessly scary for average
users.
Please stop your political agenda of subverting the open source nature
of
Linux. The average user SHOULD find it a scary to run modules
that don't conform to her choice of OPEN SOURCE OPERATING SYSTEM.
If the average user wanted to run closed source code she would have
picked
a closed source operating system right? Lets not let closed source
code sneak
in without putting up big red flags for the user. Lets make sure
that the
USER IS NOT CONFUSED about the nature of the module they're loading.
Everyone has an agenda.
Ours is to find reasonable compromise between corporate and community
interests so that Linux users are able to use widespread hardware for
which open-source drivers are otherwise not available or not adequate.
There are several types of devices, like softmodems, for which there is
currently no other alternative method. We believe that this is a
legitimate business, and beneficial to the linux community. Our goal is
not to harm open-source, to the contrary, help it spread by removing
some of the obstacles. Likewise, we help vendors bring their technology
to Linux. We encourage them to fully open-source it when possible and
economically feasible (like in the case of Conexant's riptide driver or
ethernet chipsets for which we have obtained and shared full source
with the community). Otherwise, we try deliver mixed-binary/source
drivers in the most convenient form for users.
Regards
Marc
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