Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 11:49:23 -0600 From: seebs@plethora.net (Peter Seebach) To: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: if_fxp - the real point Message-ID: <200103301749.f2UHnNK02853@guild.plethora.net> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 30 Mar 2001 13:03:23 EST." <5.0.0.25.0.20010330123625.03db9610@mail.etinc.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
In message <5.0.0.25.0.20010330123625.03db9610@mail.etinc.com>, Dennis writes: [snip] Dennis, everything you're saying sounds exactly like the people who were saying, five or ten years ago, that Linux would *never* make *any* difference, because Microsoft had already won. If there is a measurable population of people to whom open specs are important, open specs are a competitive advantage. Over time, they are likely to win if all else is equal... and in the long run, all else *is* equal. Is General Motors worried about using a card for which the drivers require an NDA? No. Is Home Depot, who are running a lot of boxes on Linux, more likely to standardize on a few thousand cards that their programmers assure them are "safer for us"? Yes. The pressure need not be overwhelming to be real. Over time, yes, I expect to see more vendors release hardware specs, because failure to do so can cost them *at least some* sales. The number of sales seems to be steadily going up. It can be very small today and still be a big deal in five years. -s To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200103301749.f2UHnNK02853>