I am reposting this, as my original seem to be mangled when I got a copy back from the list: On Mon, 2003-12-08 at 16:03, J.B. Nicholson-Owens wrote: > I would prefer to talk about the hardware supported under the entire > GNU/Linux operating system, not just the kernel. And I have already given > reasons for leaving out hardware manufacturers that hurt us. > > > nVidia *should* be listed. Furthermore, the list *should* make it very > > clear that the drivers are not open source. This would serve both sides. > > There's no reason to "serve" NVidia at all. It is not our job to help them > sell more people on dependence. It should be our job to give people > software freedom. NVidia *is* supported under XFree86 with the NV driver. Are you saying that even if there is an included driver that is not encumbered in unacceptable ways, the listing should STILL be dropped because they ALSO offer their own driver? I can't agree with that, unless you drop ALL hardware in the XFree compatible list UNLESS it has a free/open driver available? I can't advocate that, unless you just like short lists. With Windows consuming 92% of the machines out there, drawing the line too sharply will only HELP them, not help Linux. Potential Linux User: "I looked at the hardware (in)compatibility list and NONE of my cool hardware is supported, oh well, forget THAT!" So much for the "movement" then if/when that starts happening. I suppose you can push the point as far as you like, because all ends of the spectrum should be represented, I just don't see that being a short or long term gain for your political movement. My definition of what should be in the hardware list is "it can be made to run... maybe not even completely" regardless of the licensing of the means... if the licensing matters then by all means include a field in the table to that effect. That doesn't affect the COMPATIBILITY of the hardware at a TECHNICAL level. It affects compatibility of the hardware at a LICENSING level. A hardware list should address both to be a good one, IMHO. Maybe a red-yellow-green scale for the acceptability? BLACK = Its dead Jim. Does Not Work. Ever. Run Away. Run Away Faster. RED = only works with proprietary drivers, avoid. YELLOW = partly works with only open/free(your definition) drivers, may only work completely with vendor/closed driver, you choose which to use. GREEN = works completely with open/free(your definition) drivers. No problems here. Rock on. Under that scale, ATI would probably be green (I don't know), and NVidia would be YELLOW. NV is openly/freely (your definition) available, so the hardware IS compatible without the licensing issue so dear to so many. If the NV driver didn't exist, the NVidia would be red, because it CAN work, it IS compatible, but only through the problematic driver. I am just tossing ideas out here. -- Exile In Paradise "Our attitude with TCP/IP is, `Hey, we'll do it, but don't make a big system, because we can't fix it if it breaks -- nobody can.'" "TCP/IP is OK if you've got a little informal club, and it doesn't make any difference if it takes a while to fix it." -- Ken Olson, in Digital News, 1988
