Re: KDE gone, Linux next?
Matthew Parry <mettw@bowerbird.com.au> wrote:
> As Linux becomes more popular the hardware manufacturers will start
> giving away drivers with the hardware, as they do for WIN95/NT/Mac. If
> we give them the option to release the drivers as closed source then
> most of them will. But if we force them to release as open source then
> they'll still release the drivers - because market demand requires it
> - but they'll release them as free software instead. It's a matter
> of whether open source is important. In the case of word processors,
> I could care less. But when it comes to something like the kernel
> - something that at times requires fast bugfixes - it is extreemly
> important.
>
> Why give them the option to release closed source when we can force
> them to release free versions?
It's a bad idea to think that we can enforce anything [except
compliance with copyrights and such that we hold]. The best we
can do, in general, is encourage.
For the case of the Linux kernel, Linus has been strongly in favor of
commercial deployment being possible, as long as it doesn't actually
impact the kernel in a bad way [it has to stay easily maintainable,
and among other things that means that it has to stay GPLed].
--
Raul
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