Linked by Eugenia Loli on Tue 18th Apr 2006 17:49 UTC
Efforts to bring glitzy new graphics to Linux are fueling an old conflict: Does proprietary software belong in open-source Linux? The issue involves software modules called drivers, which plug into the kernel at the heart of the open-source operating system. Drivers let software communicate with hardware such as network adapters, hard drives and video cards.
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RE[5]: I'm all for it.
by Moulinneuf on Tue 18th Apr 2006 23:50
in reply to "RE[4]: I'm all for it."
Member since:2005-07-06
Read the article :
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39352584,00.htm
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39352584-2,00.htm
I dont read whats in your mind ...
Yes its unethical to use proprietary software on GNU/Linux , just be happy its not illegal and thats its tolerated for conveniance and out of respect for choice.
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Member since:
2005-07-11
Certainly , your a user , if you feel the proprietary driver are lacking , feel free to make them.
Huh? Whatever are you talking about? This article and the ensuing discussion doesn't concern the availability of proprietary drivers, but the the ethics of using the ones that already exist.
The only one stopping proprietary driver in GNU/Linux is you
You seem to have seriously misunderstood my comment. I'm not complaining about a percieved lack of proprietary drivers. Truth be known, I'm very much in favor of using FOSS drivers wherever possible. What I do have a problem with is those who claim that using proprietary drivers is somehow an ethically suspect behavior (the subject of the article).
Legally , no , they have to comply with the GPL
The Linux kernel is licensed under a modified GPL, which has the effect of making it more hospitable to proprietary drivers than it would be if released under a plain vanilla GPL.