[mythtv] Re: mythtv presentation at the CeBIT

[Marcus Metzler]

>>>>> "Axel" == Axel Thimm <Axel.Thimm at ATrpms.net> writes:

    Axel> On Thu, Mar 03, 2005 at 08:02:11PM +0100, Marcus Metzler
    Axel> wrote:
    >> No Haupauge /* Conexant 22702 DVB OFDM demodulator driver [...]
    >> Copyright (C) 2004 Steven Toth <steve at toth.demon.co.uk>

    Axel> Steven Toth is Hauppauge, just like kraxel at bytesex.org is

So, that is just the effort of one employee. They don't even seem to
want to be associated with the driver.

    Axel> SuSE. The release of this code out of Conexant's NDA

So, Gerd has been working on v4l drivers long before he was with Suse
and did not get much information from Hauppauge then either.

    Axel> involved all layers of Hauppauge from engineering to the
    Axel> CEO.

That's very sad, just to get the specs for one chip which in case of
Philips can be downloaded from their website. Good thing all
the other Hauppauge cards could be reverse engineered or the specs
could be gotten from the chip manufacturer. 

By the way, does Hauppauge give out specs to their USB devices, their
Nova-Ci or the elderly IBM chips in the mvp?

Just to make something clear, even if Hauppauge is starting to get more
involved with Linux, they have been lacking for a long time and should
not expect too much gratitude. Nobody expects them to write
drivers. For the budget DVB cards it takes one, at most two man weeks, to
write a driver when you have the specs. That's because most of the
structure that is needed is already there. They could have given specs
for their cards when we asked them and had the drivers for free, but
they did not want to, so we reverse engineered them, which takes a
little longer.
Supporting something when it is getting popular is much easier than
supporting it when it is not.

So, Hauppauge should be commended for their new attitude but their old
one should not be forgotten.

But enough with the off topic, I just wanted to point out that VIA is
no worse than Hauppauge or many others.

Marcus

-- 
/--------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Dr. Marcus O.C. Metzler        |                                   |
| mocm at metzlerbros.de            | http://www.metzlerbros.de/        |
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 |>>>             Quis custodiet ipsos custodies                 <<<|