On Mon, Feb 23, 2004 at 11:49:31AM -0800, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Brian Foster (blf at utvinternet.ie):
>> > I dunno how well know it is, but Epson does provide utilities and
> > "drivers" for printers et.al., as (as far as I can recall) under the
> > GPL; at any rate the source is (was?) available for free (as in beer).
>> Just for the record, it's actually the same, currently very popular
> dodge indulged by Nvidia, Conexant, Lucent, etc., where the key
> functionality is provided in a proprietary, binary-only module that
> you're allegedly prohibited from reverse-engineering, etc. _Wrapper_
> software surrounding that core -- the parts that don't matter much --
> gets issued under open-source licence terms.
Add Dell to that list; their kernel driver for their DRAC and ERA cards
is open-sourced and GPL'd but does precisely nothing apart from make the
device available, in the raw, to userland. The API, ABI and all of the
usefulness is then hidden in a monolithic (and atrociously designed)
closed-source utility. And best of all, it's called OpenManage.
--
Colm MacCárthaigh Public Key: colm+pgp at stdlib.net
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