An Open-Source Intel GMA 500 Driver Appears

[deanjo]

Exactly I disagree with the common assumption that everyone need open drivers, most of us need good drivers. Nvidia drivers, even if they fail at 2d some times, are very good.

I agree with you, the statement:

but still it's open-source hardware acceleration that is really needed to please end-users.

is misleading. A more accurate phrase would have been:

but still it's hardware acceleration that is really needed to please end-users.

or

but still it's open-source hardware acceleration that is really needed to please open source graphic driver developers.

would be closer to the truth. A vast majority of users just want a working solution regardless of the capability of the source code being open or not.

[lkcl]

would be closer to the truth. A vast majority of users just want a working solution regardless of the capability of the source code being open or not.

yes. in the same way that people in victorian times did not care if their meal was served by a life-long slave who was considered to be "property" not a person, or if it was served by a servant / member of their family.

[deanjo]

yes. in the same way that people in victorian times did not care if their meal was served by a life-long slave who was considered to be "property" not a person, or if it was served by a servant / member of their family.

More like how people don't care if the toilet paper was made out of recycled paper or not. They just want something that they can wipe their ass with and it does the job.

[lkcl]

More like how people don't care if the toilet paper was made out of recycled paper or not. They just want something that they can wipe their ass with and it does the job.

you mean, in the same way that they do not care if that toilet paper was made with a toxic manufacturing process that is killing the workers who made it, or if it was made from recycled paper where the manufacturer has a proven track record in looking after its employees welfare?

we can keep on at this for as long as you wish to continue to be stupid about it, deanjo. i've been involved in free software for over 15 years - long enough to have all these little anecdote sentences available, and long enough really to know better than to respond to this, but every now and then it _really_ gets me that people don't understand why the ethics and principles of free software are important.

perhaps, instead, you might like to read this:
http://tree.celinuxforum.org/piperma...ry/002164.html

it explains, in quite some detail, logically and simply why it is of benefit - even to the manufacturers of SoCs - to be free from the insane dependence on a proprietary software vendor, and to have the freedom to hire just about anybody off the street, anywhere in the world, to program what is _their_ own chip design.

[deanjo]

you mean, in the same way that they do not care if that toilet paper was made with a toxic manufacturing process that is killing the workers who made it, or if it was made from recycled paper where the manufacturer has a proven track record in looking after its employees welfare?

we can keep on at this for as long as you wish to continue to be stupid about it, deanjo. i've been involved in free software for over 15 years - long enough to have all these little anecdote sentences available, and long enough really to know better than to respond to this, but every now and then it _really_ gets me that people don't understand why the ethics and principles of free software are important.

perhaps, instead, you might like to read this:
http://tree.celinuxforum.org/piperma...ry/002164.html

it explains, in quite some detail, logically and simply why it is of benefit - even to the manufacturers of SoCs - to be free from the insane dependence on a proprietary software vendor, and to have the freedom to hire just about anybody off the street, anywhere in the world, to program what is _their_ own chip design.

None of that changes the fact that most people want a working solution regardless of if the code is free or not, like it or not. Period. End of fact. If it is open, then that is considered a bonus to some.

[nevertell]

I was so hoping the first line of the article would say "It's supper effective!"

[lkcl]

None of that changes the fact that most people want a working solution regardless of if the code is free or not, like it or not. Period. End of fact. If it is open, then that is considered a bonus to some.

deanjo - i apologise for raising this with you. i will leave it to other people to continue conversing with you on this topic, should they so wish.

[pingufunkybeat]

I believe that is the point that he is actually making. People also have various definitions of what is freedom and what is not. Having freedom of a source code that someone can tinker with vs the freedom of being able to enjoy full featured solution. Most people that use computers are users, not programmers.

You are free to use your hardware with several closed source operating systems.

You do not have the freedom to dictate that the rest of the world should not be able to use open drivers.

You have plenty of closed drivers to choose from, we have nothing. That's why this is important.

[pingufunkybeat]

None of that changes the fact that most people want a working solution regardless of if the code is free or not, like it or not. Period. End of fact. If it is open, then that is considered a bonus to some.

Yes. That's why most people use Windows.

This is obviously false for people who actually choose to use a free system, but we've discussed this before.

[pingufunkybeat]

would be closer to the truth. A vast majority of users just want a working solution regardless of the capability of the source code being open or not.

The vast majority of users DO have a working solution -- they use Windows with Windows closed drivers.

It's the Linux users who do not have a working solution -- the reason for this is that some hardware manufacturers hate open source and hate Linux as a result. This is why we need open drivers, instead of hoping that Linux-haters will give us a working driver if we promise to abandon open source.