Re: The New Linux Economy

From: John Timney \(Microsoft MVP\) (timneyj_at_despammed.com)
Date: 02/24/04 

Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 11:58:38 -0000

Interesting to hear you would pay for something that the majority of people
think should be free. Thats actually quite refreshing to hear!

I like Linux (so no flame wars required), I dont however like the
misunderstood cost model that creates this expectation that as an operating
system it is free - its a misconception often found when discussing Open
Source. It isn't free as you have found, although in physical bucks it may
not have cost you anything for the operating system - support has cost you
quite a bit. Perhaps if you did have to pay for your driver you would have
found it a lot faster and had a lot less digging to do. I wonder how much
time and effort it has actually cost you if you calculate yourself an hourly
rate in finding the driver you needed, and how much time the guys working on
this single driver have given to solving this one problem.

The diversity of Linux is as you suggest one of its greatest strengths, but
the idea that you would pay for a driver to the Linux community - but not to
MS is to me a little odd, although at least you "would" pay for someones
work which in itself is a credit. Sun and IBM, both advocates of Open
Source and pushing the Linux boat out do not give away the products for
free, would you therefore be prepared to pay one of these large companies
instead......or would these be excluded too as they are also very big
companies purely out to sell you something? Dont take this as a criticism
of your findings - its not meant to be, I'm just wondering if you considered
a wider picture in your findings.

My biggest gripe here would be why the manufactureres if your S3/ProSavage
chipset board didn't have a Linux driver in the first place. Pity the open
source community is indirectly doing the work for this company and not
getting paid for it, its the S3 manufacturer who is creaming it in here- the
good will of the open source community will save them a lot of money and
hike their profits. 

--
Regards
John Timney
Microsoft Regional Director
Microsoft MVP
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Professional .NET for Java Developers with C#- ISBN: 1-861007-91-4
Professional Windows Forms                             - ISBN: 1861005547
Professional JSP 2nd Edition                             - ISBN: 1861004958
Professional JSP                                                - ISBN:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--
Regards
John Timney
Microsoft Regional Director
Microsoft MVP
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
<blatant plug>
Professional .NET for Java Developers with C#- ISBN: 1-861007-91-4
Professional Windows Forms                             - ISBN: 1861005547
Professional JSP 2nd Edition                             - ISBN: 1861004958
Professional JSP                                                - ISBN:
1861003625
Beginning JSP Web Development                     - ISBN: 1861002092
</blatant plug>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"Travis 'Bailo' Bickel" <jabailo@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:nCD_b.6159$yZ1.988@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>
> Lately, I have been having a bear of a time trying to acquire a Linux
driver
> for my S3/ProSavage chipset -- but that quest is now almost at an end as I
> have located a noble band of people who are pushing the envelop with S3
and
> Savage chipset drivers!
>
> Though my quest might sound like food for trolls to mock Linux -- hear me
> out.  I think I have discovered part of the message of the new Linux
> economy.   Many of us have criticized the Microsoft Monolith.  The one
size
> fits all Model T approach.  What we criticize even more is how that model
> no longer works.  Even with a restricted homogeneous architecture, there
> are still magnificent flaws in security, useability, functionality, pace
of
> change, meeting customer demand and so on...
>
> What my quest told me is that even when a project seems obscure or even
> impossible -- the new Linux economy is so diverse, that there are people
> working on even the most detailed problems.   My driver knowledge took me
> to the motherboard manufacturer, the chipset vendor, the OEM chipset
> integrator, user groups, OSS dev groups, mailing lists, newsgroups and so
> on.  But each part of this web of knowledge and software added a little
bit
> to the puzzle.  What is more, as specific as my request was, there was
> information, and, for others with similar, specific requests, there were
> people meeting the need as well.
>
> Here's the thing.  The price of hardware has dropped tremendously.  I am a
> beneficiary of that as my new Athlon 2400 for under $300 is a dream
> machine!   Ok, so with DVD drive and some extras -- I sprung for a nice
> logitech mouse, keyboard and gamepad, and went for the old fashioned 17
> CRT, it's still under $600.   Of course, using Suse, my OS, applications
> and so on are free.   Ok.  So you know what.  With all those bargains, if
> someone said to me: yeah, you can have a 3D driver for your Suse machine,
> but it'll cost ya...um...say $50.   Say even $75.   You know what?  I
would
> easily pay that group the money.   In fact, I would *want* to pay them the
> money and hope that others would as well.
>
> Inside of /licensing/ monolithic, broken and stiff Micrsoft code that was
> writen for 386 machines from a decade ago, and lining the stomachs and
> pockets of Steve Balmer, Bill Gates and his egregious so-called
> *foundation*, I would rather the money go to the people in the software
> community who are actually /adding value/.
>
>
>
> --
> Kent Crazy B.V.

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