Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 03:49:23 -0700 From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> To: "Matt Penna" <mdp1261@rit.edu>, <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: quick cam driver? Message-ID: <004501c15ae7$35e48b00$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20011020105433.01db6b00@vmspop.rit.edu>
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>-----Original Message----- >From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Matt Penna >Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 8:27 AM >To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >Subject: RE: quick cam driver? > > >At 12:57 AM 10/20/01 -0700, you wrote: >>You should have sold it 5 years ago. The VC programming interface >>changed from the parallel port one and specs have not been available. > > >About a month ago, I sent a very nice, 3-page letter to Logitech basically >begging them to support their cameras under *ANY* operating system other >than Windows. (I specifically mentioned FreeBSD, among others.) I spent a >good deal of space explaining why it would be a boon for them to do this; I >own 4 of their Quickcams already and would likely run out to buy at least 6 >more if they were supported under UNIX, and I have no doubt others would do >the same - a fact I clearly stated in my letter. > >Logitech seems amenable to the idea of supporting other OSes, as they >helped with the drivers for their various joysticks under Linux. Maybe they >just need some more prodding and will alter their position? I'm sure others >have made similar requests of them on previous occasions, so this might >just be wishful thinking. > Um - let me reprint the following from this webpage: http://www.cs.duke.edu/~reynolds/cqcam/faq.html "...One developer actually negotiated an NDA with Logitech and mostly wrote a binary-only driver for the VC and the Pro, only to discover that a licensing catch-22 keeps him from releasing it..." In short, the driver's written, if Logitech wanted it to be out, then they could simply send you a letter saying "all 3rd party UNIX device drivers for the Quickcam VC previously developed under NDA are henceforth unrestricted by that NDA" and the minute that you posted a facsimile of that on a webpage, you would have a driver for your VC in your hands. Simple, and it would cost them nothing. >However, I know a number of people who have wanted support for their >cameras under some version of UNIX, so perhaps Logitech just needs some >more encouragement. If you want them to support their cameras, sending off >a letter or e-mail to them might be beneficial - it certainly can't hurt. > >If anyone else does contact them, BE NICE. > The time for nice is long past. Your better off simply sending them a letter saying in effect: "Dear sirs, I recently needed to acquire the following computer peripheral products [insert list here] I identified the following products from Logitech that would have been acceptable to me [insert list of Logitech products] The total dollar amount would have been [insert dollar amount] I chose to purchase ALL of these products from OTHER manufacturers because Logitech refuses to permit a device driver written by [insert developers name here] for the FreeBSD/Linux OS to be redistributed. Until you change your policy I will not be purchasing products from Logitech and I will be recommending to others to NOT purchase products from Logitech. I spend approximately [insert dollar figure here] a year on products that Logitech could supply. I recommend approximately [insert much higher dollar figure here] worth of computer peripheral purchases that Logitech could supply products for to other people. Thank you for your consideration you may contact me at [insert phone number] if you have further questions" Also, MOST IMPORTANTLY, do NOT send this letter to "attn: President" or some such. Instead, send to the attention of the sales office. Companies like Logitech aren't proactive otherwise this issue wouldn't exist. Instead they are reactive, and the only thing that they really react to is a tangible loss of sales. If you want to motivate them then you need to bring that loss of sales to their attention, the higher the dollar figure the better. Also, keep in mind that the NDA for the Quickcam VC was probably written by some corporate lawyer that knows nothing whatsover about FreeBSD or Linux or programming interfaces, and who has a knee-jerk "don't release anything without an NDA we don't care what it is" response and who is working for the CEO of Logitech. If the sales department goes to the CEO and says "we need to get this NDA shit changed on the VC" the CEO is going to have to weigh the dollar amount of lost sales against the money it will take to have that corporate lawyer actually spend some time thinking, instead of having his assistant crank out more boilerplate. Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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