[mythtv-users] Current wisdom on PVR-150/250/350/500

[Jeff Simpson]

> The maintainer of the USB subsystem has served notice that the next major
> kernel release will not allow non-GPLed USB driver code.  Although I do not
> keep a very close eye on LKML, I do not recall seeing any objections from
> Linus.
>
> See http://news.com.com/New+Linux+look+fuels+old+debate/2100-7344_3-6061491.html?tag=nl
>
> I have a sneaky feeling that the days of non-GPLed video card binary blobs
> are numbered.  That's just a personal hunch of mine, and I haven't really
> seen anything to indicate anything of this sort coming down the pike.

This scares me. I don't think linux is *quite* to the point where it
is big enough to bully the hardware manufacturers into doing what we
want. If linux says "no more non-gpl kernel drivers", the big hardware
manufacturers will just stop making them, they aren't going to just
throw in the towel and say "you win, here's all our code opened for
you". We'll be stuck making do with less-than-perfect drivers for a
long time before we get up to the state we're already at now, and
forget keeping up with kernel changes.

> That same CNET article, on page 2, states that Intel is planning to put out
> an "open-source"[1] driver for their graphics chipsets.  Once that happens,
> I think there's a decent possibility of a push to drop support for non-GPLed
> video card binary blobs.  Both Nvidia and ATI have been leeching off the
> Linux community for a long time, and people don't like it.

I'd like to see it, too. I love the idea of open source, I just don't
think that closed-source should be as negative. They are making
drivers, the drivers are working. If the drivers sucked, I can see why
people would want to have open-source, but the drivers work great.

> I think it's just a matter of time before the other shoe drops.  Of
> course, there's going to be a major dust-up; there will be a lot of hootin'
> and hollerin'.  But the answer to that will be: go get the Intel graphics
> chipset.
>
> [1] As an aside, in this context "free software" is a more technically
> correct term, than "open source".

Is it?

the nvidia binary drivers are free, and they are software. They just
aren't open source.