Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Sat 19th Mar 2005 05:03 UTC
With the recent push from OpenBSD to open firmwares to redistribution as well as obtaining new documentation for several wireless chipsets it would seem OpenBSD is pushing for other areas to open up as well.
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Is there really a competative advantage in keeping technical documentation and implementations in a binary only form?
For some applications this is a certainty. This is where software patents are hoping to go. More and more hardware devices are using more or less generic processors, memory and parts. The actual way it works seems to be all done in software.
A good example is graphics cards. Even under Windows good/bad drivers make a massive difference in performance meaning that the actual function of the of the device is probably all in software. There have been efforts to harness all that GPU processing power for normal applications.
Why should a company care then if the documentation for just the hardware is available. Well probably because without all that convoluted software the device doesn't work at all.
All that means is that the hardware company can't protect its trade secrets or competative advantage by making the hardware obscure.
Is this a bad thing for Open Source. Undoubtably. However I think its a trend that is set to continue. I suspect that the recent surge in GPU performance is a temporary trend set to reverse itself as the focus switches back more generic, general use processors. Other hardware will likely tend to the way of the software modems.