Re: Controversy over dynamic linking -- how to end the panic

David Woodhouse (dwmw2@infradead.org)
Fri, 22 Jun 2001 11:44:24 +0100


esr@snark.thyrsus.com said:
> Earlier today I was contacted by a principal at a well-known Linux
> company who was in a mild panic over recent arguments by Alan Cox and
> David Miller. This company (not VA or Red Hat, BTW) fears that their
> customers will run from Linux if they get the idea that linking
> drivers to the kernel might force them open.

I'm not going to join the amateur lawyers' society debate about this. But I
will point out that I disagree with your intentions here.

Personally, I don't _want_ authors or users of binary modules to be reassured.
I want them to write open source code, or go away. And I don't think I'm
alone in that.

I think Linus said it best...

On 7 Feb 1999, at 08:15:24 GMT, Linus Torvalds said:
> Basically, I want people to know that when they use binary-only modules,
> it's THEIR problem. I want people to know that in their bones, and I
> want it shouted out from the rooftops. I want people to wake up in a
> cold sweat every once in a while if they use binary-only modules.

Large companies are now basing their design and purchasing choices on the
availability of _real_ Linux support; not just binary-only drivers. Even if
we _are_ primarily motivated by the desire to increase the market share of
Linux (which is something I don't concede anyway), then we still don't lose
much by letting binary-module people continue to sweat.

--
dwmw2

- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/