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>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> 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 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?3.0.5.32.20000426123322.01420100>