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I think some compromises might be necessary but I think the insistence on open source drivers is otherwise pretty important. Yes, mobil OS are successful, but t

I think some compromises might be necessary but I think the insistence on open source drivers is otherwise pretty important. Yes, mobil OS are successful, but they still suck. The hardware and software situation restricts users massively. I wouldn't ever want that for a desktop computer.

crote 4y ago
The definition of what a "driver" is has been slowly changing, though. Initially, hardware was just a bunch of transistors performing a fixed function. Then they got microcontrollers which were programmed once in the factory. Then the microcontrollers were user-programmable - which was a massive pain until we got fwupd. Now the microcontrollers don't have built-in firmware but require you to provide it on startup. From the driver side, nothing really changed. A driver is still a piece of code you use to talk to your hardware: it translates between your OS and whatever weird protocols your devices are using. Drivers have always had to perform magic incantations to get the hardware working, writing the right bytes to the right locations in the right order. The only thing that changed is that those incantations are now a few kilobytes long. And yet, despite nothing really changing, your OS now technically contains proprietary firmware blobs...
- raxxorraxor 4y ago
  True, that wasn't precisely stated. I honestly believe that these blobs wouldn't need to be proprietary. I work on proprietary code for embedded systems too and we don't release the source either. But if it were leaked there is not really a threat to our intellectual property. Maybe the main benefit really is security through obscurity. We don't do general hardware though and it wouldn't be of much interest, but it would be nice to get manufacturers to open up here. Not even the source for the blobs, but some documentation to interface the firmware perhaps. Sure, it is always some work if you release something to the public or maybe parts of your software need licences themselves, but if possible I would expect this to net secondary benefits for the manufacturers. If people know your hardware, they might use it in their applications as well... Just getting manufacturers here to open up would still be nice and I believe they could benefit as well.

crote 4y ago

The definition of what a "driver" is has been slowly changing, though. Initially, hardware was just a bunch of transistors performing a fixed function. Then they got microcontrollers which were programmed once in the factory. Then the microcontrollers were user-programmable - which was a massive pain until we got fwupd. Now the microcontrollers don't have built-in firmware but require you to provide it on startup. From the driver side, nothing really changed. A driver is still a piece of code you use to talk to your hardware: it translates between your OS and whatever weird protocols your devices are using. Drivers have always had to perform magic incantations to get the hardware working, writing the right bytes to the right locations in the right order. The only thing that changed is that those incantations are now a few kilobytes long. And yet, despite nothing really changing, your OS now technically contains proprietary firmware blobs...

raxxorraxor 4y ago
True, that wasn't precisely stated. I honestly believe that these blobs wouldn't need to be proprietary. I work on proprietary code for embedded systems too and we don't release the source either. But if it were leaked there is not really a threat to our intellectual property. Maybe the main benefit really is security through obscurity. We don't do general hardware though and it wouldn't be of much interest, but it would be nice to get manufacturers to open up here. Not even the source for the blobs, but some documentation to interface the firmware perhaps. Sure, it is always some work if you release something to the public or maybe parts of your software need licences themselves, but if possible I would expect this to net secondary benefits for the manufacturers. If people know your hardware, they might use it in their applications as well... Just getting manufacturers here to open up would still be nice and I believe they could benefit as well.