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Date:      Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:33:22 +0100
From:      "Peter N. M. Hansteen" <peter@datadok.no>
To:        Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in>
Cc:        Alexander Langer <alex@big.endian.de>, Roger Walkup <rwalkup@cheqnet.net>, Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>, linux-usb@suse.com, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, netbsd-users@netbsd.org, advocacy@openbsd.org
Subject:   Re: [linux-usb] Anti-NDA petition
Message-ID:  <3.0.5.32.20000426123322.01420100@mail.datadok.no>
In-Reply-To: <20000426164215.A17370@physics.iisc.ernet.in>
References:  <20000426130511.A6113@cichlids.cichlids.com> <4.3.1.2.20000425140001.00bf1100@localhost> <E12kD22-0008GM-00@the-village.bc.nu> <20000426111313.D1245@cichlids.cichlids.com> <3906C4C4.22930895@cheqnet.net> <20000426130511.A6113@cichlids.cichlids.com>

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>   Here we make amongst other thing USB webcams. For these there is an
>   excelent linux driver, but the author had to sign an NDA in order to get
>   the specifications of the communication protocol. I have been trying to
>   convince people here to drop at least part of the NDA so that an open
>   source driver will be possible. So far the answer has been no.
>
>The concern for most of the posters was to encourage companies to release
>opensource drivers.

Exactly. I'm hoping followups more or less like these (which I mailed this
morning to jeroen) will help advance the cause:

-- [ snip ] --
To: jeroen.vreeken@philips.com
From: "Peter N. M. Hansteen" <peter@datadok.no>
Subject: cameras and drivers - No NDAs, please

Dear Jeroen,

I hope that the powers that be in your organization will come
to realize that open source operating systems and their users
certainly are valid markets (growing ones, too) *and* environments
where the likelihood of useful user feedback is better than 
in your run of the mill consumer markets. 

The open source operating systems I use on a daily basis are 
linux and OpenBSD, and I would certainly welcome cameras and 
other imaging devices with open source support. 

Buying one or more video or stills cameras is a question which 
pops up here at datadok at intervals, and one of the reasons for 
postponing the purchase has invariably been the lack of useful 
info on drivers for other systems than the Microsoft offerings.

Now if the manufacturers would only clue up to the fact that
once a good, readable open source driver for your devices is 
out for one system, support in the other open source systems 
is mainly a matter of time (and perhaps giving/lending a device 
to a developer if you want to speed things up), a lot would 
be gained for the manufacturers who do. 

If for some odd political reason releasing the source of 
the current driver is not an option, a workable alternative 
could be to state publicly that the company would be willing 
to cooperate with outside developers, making all relevant 
programming information available.

I know that asking for OpenBSD drivers from day one is a lot 
to ask, but a device with a functional, open source linux 
driver would certainly move quite a few notches up the list 
in my case. 

Now switching to marketspeak, making drivers available for
"minority" operating systems is fairly powerful image-building
as well -- it signals that you actually have a degree of sensitivity
towards the needs of your (current and potential) users.
Making programming information available to developers would
help, too.

- Peter
-- [ unsnip ] --

-- 
Peter N. M. Hansteen  peter@datadok.no http://www.datadok.no 
Datadokumentasjon A/S, Bredsgaarden 2, N-5003 Bergen, Norway
Tel: +47 55 32 08 02                    Fax: +47 55 32 14 95


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