greed (was)

[Brandon Van Every]

Paul Boddie wrote:
> The problem is that even those
> who do want to make things easier for the end-user (and despite your
> assertions, there *are* plenty of people like that doing open source
> development), attempting to get proprietary hardware information often
> results in a flat-out denial from the vendor or an offer to sign an
> NDA.

Yep, that's the real world.  In this reverse engineering and sue-happy
world, IHVs have legitimate reasons to protect their interfaces.  Microsoft
is amenable to that reality, Linux isn't.  Ergo more IHV cooperation with
Microsoft.  That's the problem with the Open Source model: things stay open.
Not everybody wants all that openness.  That's not greed, it's enlightened
self-interest / self-protection in many cases.

--
Cheers,                         www.3DProgrammer.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.