Re: Opening Firmware and Documentation

[Marco Feenstra <mfeenstra_(_at_)_suqata_(_dot_)_net>]

Peter H. Coffin wrote:

> On Thu, Oct 28, 2004 at 09:29:25AM +0200, Marco Feenstra wrote:
>  
>
> > Can the OpenBSD homepage be used to promote products bymanufacturers who 
> > care.
> >    
>
> Argh. Complicated.
>  
One page updated every release and containing 20-30 manufacturers is not 
rocket science nor complicated, imho.

> If you've already chosen the hardware, the fact that OBSD promotes
> something else is unlikely to change your mind.
>  
It is for those that have yet to choose their hardware, and for those in 
the upgrade replacement market.

> If you've already chosen the OS, the fact that hardware is listed on the
> "supported hardware" page is enough to get that vendor preferential
> selection, and probably to the point that *only* those vendors will be
> considered.
>  
I was not talking about vendors, but it gives the manufacturers the 
option to distinquish themselves from the rest. Now all are one the good 
AND the bad and ugly.
The page makes no seperation between hardware which has reverse 
engineered drivers and hardware that was implemented using the techdocs.

> The OpenBSD developers already develope preferentially for hardware that
> has good licenses. If/when there is ENOUGH good-licensed hardware out
> there, the support for not-good-licensed hardware atrophies and stops
> being supported. 
>  
At the end of the road the logic of your statement makes sense we are 
here now and not yet at that point in time. My suggestion would help 
those buyers, who don't read misc@ and only read the hardware page, to 
make an informed decision about where to spend their money at this point 
in time.

The idea was to create an additional motivation for manufacturers to 
grease the wheels when talking to manufacturers. It might not be the 
best thing, but lets face it, the devs are already doing something like 
this in interviews, giving free marketing to manufacturers when making 
comments how manufacturer X helped them supporting hardware Y.


Cheers,
Marco Feenstra