From owner-freebsd-hackers  Fri Mar  9 22:11:29 2001
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	id E7AF437B718; Fri,  9 Mar 2001 22:11:24 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: if_fxp - the real point
In-Reply-To: <5.0.0.25.0.20010309204335.01fc2b00@mail.etinc.com> from Dennis at "Mar 9, 2001 08:56:57 pm"
To: dennis@etinc.com (Dennis)
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 22:11:24 -0800 (PST)
Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, msmith@FreeBSD.ORG
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From: wpaul@FreeBSD.ORG (Bill Paul)
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> 
> I think its been mentioned several times in this and other threads that 
> intel has a driver for LINUX that is effective documentation on the board, 
> and the code is public (although you may have to stick an intel copyright 
> in the code also).

Whoever mentioned this was not thinking clearly. A manual is effective
documentation for a NIC. Sample driver code alone is not. It's handy, but
it's not enough. When you write a driver, you make certain design decisions
based on the information in the manual and the OS you're developing for.
By forcing someone to rely soley on your driver to see how the board
works, you're limiting their ability to make their own design decisions.
What works well for Windows or Linux may be mediocre for BSD. Besides,
Intel engineers have a knack for choosing really confusing register names.

And again, saying "but there's a Linux driver" just gives vendors an
excuse to perpetuate their stupidity. I'm not keen to give them this
opportunity.
 
> You guys continue not to understand why companies dont disclose board info 
> freely. You end up competing with your own customers. They dont want people 
> buying gray market parts and selling $9. boards. Its very easy to clone a 
> board with 2 chips on it these days.

I'm sorry, that doesn't wash. *I* am not trying to compete with anyone.
Lord knows I can't afford to fabricate my own controller chips on my
salary. The users who just want to use the cards certainly don't want
to compete with anybody. If anything, I want to help them make money.
If your method for squashing competition also angers your allaged 'partners'
and costs you money, then you need to come up with a better mechanism.
Besides, there's supposed to be competition: it's a free market, remember?
If I sell a car with a gas pedal, steering wheel and gear shift, I can't
tell all the other car manufacturers not to make their cars with gas
pedals, steering wheels and gear shifts, or swear all the people who
drive my cars to secrecy so they can't tell anyone how they're meant to
be driven. Just because other companies make cars with the same features,
that doesn't make them better cars than mine: the consumer should do
some research to find the best one instead of buying whatever's cheapest.

Naturally, consumers are never that bright.

-Bill

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