From: root@rshark.mixcom.com (Brian Kapitan) Subject: Re: Why not include patches for Diamond Stealth in kernel? Date: 8 Feb 1993 23:39:51 GMT
badger@phylo.life.uiuc.edu (Jonathan Badger) writes:
>You write:
>> As I understand it, this is not a simple boycott issue. There is a
>>real concern about being sued by Diamond. Apparently Diamond considers the
>>programming details of their card proprietary, and anyone who writes a driver
>>and then makes the source code publicly available has left themselves exposed
>>as they say. Until Diamond's attitude changes it simply would not be prudent
>>to include support for Diamond in the kernel or in Xfree.
>It is time to clear this up. All the patches do is set a video board into
>VESA mode using the BIOS.
as the author of the setup.S patches i think it's time i express my
opinion...the whole point seems to be missed by alot of people---there
are several people who have purchased a Diamond Stealth card in the past,
and have a real desire to run X....it is silly to require these users to
change card manufacturers when they are allready perfectly happy with
their purchase (like i am)...
to set the record straight on 'being sued': the information on how
to kick the card into 1024x768x256 mode and out (which is what my patches
do in order to set up the dot clocks right) came from the manual distributed
with my card...in fact, i am considering modifying the code fragment to
include a test that a diamond stealth card is out there before calling
the BIOS. if i do that, then the code could become part of the kernel...
one things i missed in my first patches was leaving the cursor in the right
place afterwords: i have new patches for this (if anyone is interested).
i think there will become more and more 'patches' like this required as
linux grows to include different cards and devices...why shouldn't a
source file be created that would be called somewhere inside setup.S to
set up various things while the BIOS is still around? i don't see the
harm...linus was generous to allow us to have the kernel source in the
first place...it is that spirit of sharing that should be extended to all
of linux in order for the entire community of linux users to benefit.
and the boycott issue: why should those of us who made a decision to buy
a diamond stealth card be 'punished' because of the (perceived) attitude
of diamond. like many companies in a free market economy, it is their
right to protect their proprietary software and hardware...
brian
-- "If you wait long enough, a car will come." -- anon Brian Kapitan, root@rshark.mixcom.com