Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 19:38:40 -0500 (EST) From: Daniel Feenberg <feenberg@nber.org> To: Da Rock <freebsd-questions@herveybayaustralia.com.au> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Realtek RTL8191SEvB Linux driver? Message-ID: <alpine.LFD.2.00.1201031922400.26468@nber4.nber.org> In-Reply-To: <4F038F8F.3090701@herveybayaustralia.com.au> References: <CAFpTYWM3ppJsVo-qZC=OXWHW1U5zAt3y5m==6hFw3JQNH%2B5NAg@mail.gmail.com> <4F02A3CE.7020404@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20120103071028.4964dd33@scorpio> <4F030E00.5020806@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <Pine.GSO.4.64.1201031101580.7621@age7.nber.org> <4F038F8F.3090701@herveybayaustralia.com.au>
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On Wed, 4 Jan 2012, Da Rock wrote: > On 01/04/12 02:10, Daniel Feenberg wrote: >> >> >> On Wed, 4 Jan 2012, Da Rock wrote: >> >>> On 01/03/12 22:10, Jerry wrote: >>>> On Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:44:30 +1000 >>>> Da Rock articulated: >>>> >>>>> On 01/03/12 11:15, Jeffrey McFadden wrote: >> >> >> Don't ndis(4) ndiscvt and ndisgen(8) essentially accomplish what the OP is >> requesting? See the handbook section 12.8.1.1: >> >> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/config-network-setup.html >> >> or the man page for ndiscvt: >> >> http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=8&topic=ndiscvt >> >> >> While doing the conversion looks a bit beyond what we would expect of an >> end-user, it does seem to offer a path for using hardware whose >> manufacturer does not support FreeBSD. Is there anything beyond licensing >> issues preventing such drivers from being included in the distribution, or >> made downloadable in FreeBSD form? > Oh yes, it is possible, just not probable :) At http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ndiswrapper/index.php?title=Category:USB almost 800 compatible devices are listed. Not everything, but I have found that a willingness to spend a few dollars on a different card helps immensely in enjoying FreeBSD and Linux. For me at least it is easier to find a compatible card than to write a compatible driver. I would also observe that most people involved with computers, whether as users or developers, have little symphathy for people with different needs from the device. This is a great impediment to progress. It is a mistake to assume that because you don't need something, another person's desire for it is illegitimate. In this case, I fully agree that it is an injustice that hardware vendors do not supply FreeBSD drivers, but that does not mean that users requiring such drivers are immoral or of poor character, and therefore to be ignored or insulted. There is little that FreeBSD coders and users can do about that injustice directly, however it is within their power to mitigate it with the NDIS wrapper. If that wrapper allows another user to enter the FOSS world, that will (in the fullness of time) contribute to reforming the vendor. Daniel Feenberg
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