[mythtv-users] Hauppauge HD PVR (A bit more info for those starved for it)

[Brian Wood]

On Feb 28, 2008, at 9:29 PM, Chad wrote:

>
>
> A better example is Nvidia.  How many of us are IT professionals in
> organizations that support 1000+ workstations/desktops?  I would
> assume a good portion of us are, and when it comes to making a
> decision on which video card to put into those systems, I know that
> several times we have had ATI as a default option and instead opted
> for Nvidia simply because of our experience of using the cards on
> Linux.  The workstations will likely never run Linux (at least the
> majority of them inside the labs) and yet the influence Nvidia has
> because of their ability to provide us with what we need in the Linux
> world just gained them an additional 1000 sales, by providing Linux
> drivers to 1 or 2 IT people.

Maybe, maybe not.  I certainly would not suggest putting nVidia cards  
into office type workstations that needed only "business class"  
graphics, or servers being managed by serial ports. That would simply  
not make economic sense.

OTOH I'm sure that nVidia and other companies have made sales that are  
only indirectly related to their having supported the Linux community.

What I would like to see is some way of making sure that manufacturers  
know when a sale has resulted from their support of Linux. For example  
I want Hauppauge to know I purchased their product because it is  
supported in Linux, and that their assistance to the IVTV people  
resulted in  additional sales.

I suppose it could backfire though. It might simply tell them that the  
Linux market is not large enough to be worth their efforts.

But I think manufacturers and vendors are aware of the fact that a  
disproportionate number of "decision makers" are Linux users, or are  
at least aware of what Linux and the OSS movement are.

beww