Re: Linux stifles innovation... [way O.T.]

From: "Michael H. Warfield" <mhw@wittsend.com>
To: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com>
Cc: John Cavan <johnc@damncats.org>,
	jesse@cats-chateau.net, A.J.Scott@casdn.neu.edu,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Linux stifles innovation... [way O.T.]
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 15:28:14 -0500	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20010217152814.G26627@alcove.wittsend.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <3A8CF1FE.16672.10105D@localhost> <3A8CF1FE.16672.10105D@localhost> <5.0.0.25.0.20010216170349.01efc030@mail.etinc.com> <3A8DB0D0.5603E01@damncats.org> <5.0.0.25.0.20010217143912.0390e440@mail.etinc.com>
In-Reply-To: <5.0.0.25.0.20010217143912.0390e440@mail.etinc.com>; from dennis@etinc.com on Sat, Feb 17, 2001 at 02:56:15PM -0500

On Sat, Feb 17, 2001 at 02:56:15PM -0500, Dennis wrote:
> At 05:59 PM 02/16/2001, John Cavan wrote:
> >Dennis wrote:
> > > objective, arent we?
> >
> >You might ask yourself the same question...

> > > For example, if there were six different companies that marketed ethernet
> > > drivers for the eepro100, you'd have a choice of which one to buy..perhaps
> > > with different "features" that were of value to you. Instead, you have
> > > crappy GPL code that locks up under load, and its not worth spending
> > > corporate dollars to fix it because you have to give away your work for
> > > free under GPL. And since there is a "free" driver that most people can
> > > use, its not worth building a better mousetrap either because the market is
> > > too small. So, the handful of users with problems get to "fit it
> > > themselves", most of whom cant of course.

> >A large bulk of the investment in Linux is starting to come in from
> >hardware manufacturers, notably IBM. These companies see Linux as a
> >means to sell more hardware, not as a means to sell software. This is
> >critical, because it means that it IS worth the money to make the driver
> >perform correctly, GPL or not, because a bad driver means no sales.


> Thats wrong. The eepro100 is a great example. It works for most people, so 
> the market for an improved one is very limited. Your market is not the 
> whole community, only the community that needs something better. IBM will 
> simply blame linux if it cant handle a situation. They arent supporting 
> linux, they are only taking advantage of the fact that people want it.

	Excuse me?  A 1 billion dolar investment in Linux is not supporting
it?  Setting up tier 1 and tier 2 support services for a half a dozen
distributions is not supporting it?  Porting their AIX file systems and
applications is not supporting it?  Porting it to the 390 is not supporting
it?  You bet'cha they are taking advantage of the fact that people want it.
They would be damn fools in business if they didn't take advantage of that.
And that means supporting it.  It's to their advantage to support it and
they see it.  You must have a really bizzare idea of what support means...

> BSDI is distributing FreeBSD now. They havent done anything useful to 
> support it. They are just cashing in on it.

	And your point is???

> DB

	Mike
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