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Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres French speaking Libre Software Users' Association Promouvoir les logiciels libres ainsi que l'utilisation de standards ouverts. |
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FAQ for hardware and electronic components manufacturers
Frequently Asked Questions on drivers availability under any operating system (long version)
Philippe Coulonges, M.-A. Darche
AFUL
(Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de Linux et des Logiciels Libres i.e. French speaking Linux and Free Software Users' Association)
APRIL
(Association Pour la Promotion et la Recherche en Informatique Libre ie. Association for Promotion and Research in Libre Computing)
Copyright © 2001 AFUL, APRIL Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with the no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". September 2001 Table of Contents
1 DéfinitionsA: GNU/Linux is a multiuser, multitask operating system which can execute on a large number of hardware platforms (Intel x86, PowerPC, Alpha, SPARC, ARM, etc.). The most important characteristic of this operating system, besides its technical qualities and its growing fame, lies in the fact that GNU/Linux is an assembly of Free Sotwares. The GNU/Linux system will often be mentioned in this document, essentially because the problems mentioned presently concern many users of this system. But these problems stay valid for every operating system A: Introduced by Richard M. Stallman in 1984, GNU is a project of operating system consisting solely of Free Sotwares. The Linux kernel, a creation which began in 1991, is the last component that has allowed to achieve an autonomous operating system solely composed of Free Software. GNU/Linux is thus the conjunction of the project GNU and the Linux kernel. It is this set which is distributed today by Debian, Mandrake, RedHat, etc. A: A license can be designated under the generic name of ‘free license’ if it corresponds to the criteria of Free Software licences (a list is available on the FSF's site) or to Open Source Software licenses (a list is available on the on the Open Source Initiative's site) Free Software licenses correspond to the criteria stated by Free Software definition. Open Source Software licenses correspond to the criteria stated in Open Source Software definition. A: A ‘non-free’ license is a license which requires a transaction with the holder of the license in order to gain any right related to the software. First of which is the right to use it, often conditioned by the payment of an amount of money. These licenses equally forbid the copying, the studying of the software's functioning, its modification and any arbitrary combination of these possibilities. 2 Marketing pointsThe market is sizeable, and its potential is huge. GNU/Linux is the only operating system presently gaining market shares over all its competitors. It is favored by many computer specialists, who are prescriptors for harware choices. It is now commercially and financially backed by the biggest manufacturers (SUN, IBM, HP, SGI, DELL, etc.). Some goverments are studying the use of Free Software as a standard for their administration (France, Poland, Argentina, China, ...)
A: Yes, by giving away the specifications for your products and making the announcement. Volunteers (companies or individuals) can then take care of developments. But this approach has some drawbacks : A: Yes. By developing and releasing binary drivers. Advantages of keeping secret the specifications are : Drawbacks are :As opposed to other operating systems, GNU/Linux executes on a large number of hardware platforms. It is difficult to test them all without the assistance of a community. Furthermore, versions of the Linux kernel are released on a more steady rythm than those of the other operating systems. GNU/Linux is not the only free operating system. If the others can seem unimportant in market shares, they exist nevertheless, and their users wish to dispose of the necessary resources for proper operating of their machines. Finally, as explained by the founder of the Open Source Software movement Eric S. Raymond, in his article The Magic Cauldron : ‘Today, the time your competitors' engineers would need to spend copying and understanding the copy is a substantial portion of the product cycle, time they are not spending innovating or differentiating their own product. Plagiarism is a trap you want your competitors to fall into.’. The current rhythm of the electronic development renders the practice of cloning ineffective. A: In your case, the software is not your product. It's a service. Your product is your hardware. Software drivers production made by electronic manufacturers is a recent phenomenon. Previously the manufacturers spread Hardware Interface Specifications, letting the responsibility of developing drivers for operating systems in the hands of their editors and/or of the users. This policy was not satisfactory because it implied that the drivers for the same material could be developed several times by various customers, which is technically and commercially ineffective. It is thus under the pressure of their customers that the manufacturers financed the development of the drivers. However this new system showed another flaw : it favored the appeareance of monopolies which then exercised an unbearable pressure on customers and suppliers as well. Today, as Internet eases the broadcasting of projects and free licenses bring guarantees on their accessibility and their evolution, the involvement of the manufacturers doesn't need to be as important. A: Software can be adapted by users. It therefore remains in adequacy with their needs. Minor, frustrating bugs can be corrected, new ideas will appear. Free Software is a guarantee that the product will last. Should the furnisher disappear, software code could still be maintained. In the decision of purchase, it is an additional guarantee for the customer, thus a selling argument for the vendor. 3 PrecisionsA: There are several solutions:
A: Yes, ZDNet maintains the Linux Hardware Database. This database is very complete and every manufacturer can reference his hardware there. Moreover, the LinuxHardware.org site can be contacted by the manufacturers who wish to have their products evaluated in connection with Free Software based operating systems such as GNU/Linux.
A: Many software licenses already exist. You can use them for the distribution of your drivers (see also ‘ What is a free license ? ’). It is a rare case when a company feels the need to engage in the redaction of a new free license. Creating and maintaining a license is generally a waste of time. Furthermore, it complicates the task of companies and individuals who decide to work on your drivers. The most famous licenses are the GNU General Public License (GPL), the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), the modified BSD licenses and the Mozilla Public License (MPL). As a rule of thumb, the GPL will always be preferred when nothing opposes it. If external constraints make this choice impossible, the best is to contact a specialized structure to expose your case (see also ‘ Who to contact for more information on Free Software and Open Source Software? ’). Factors determining the choice of a license are numerous and have important consequences, to discuss it is the best way to find a well fitted solution. A: ATI, Creative, Epson, HP, IBM, Intel, Kodak, Matrox (amongst others) publish hardware specification for a vast majority of their products. These manufacturers are also involved in the development of the drivers for their hardware (fully or partially). Finally, they distribute their drivers under a free license (fully or partially), see also ‘ Publish “mixed” drivers ’). This position insures them a maximal coverage of the market, while assuring the best possible support for their products. The following manufacturers supply only binary versions (under non-free license) of their drivers, but for a large number of operating systems, including GNU/Linux: Lexmark, NVidia, Olitec. These manufacturers satisfy a large number of consumers. But by dismissing the help the Free Software and Open Source Software community of developers could supply, they endure a more important effort to keep their drivers up to date with the new versions of operating systems. An inherent problem of the binary drivers is their lack of ‘modularity’. Being usually modules for the kernel, they can, if they are badly conceived, cause the failure of a whole machine. So editors of free software distributions hesitate to put modules which risk entailling a big load for their support services. An emblematic example are the NVIDIA modules for GNU/Linux, which, in spite of their recognized performances, are not included in the Mandrake 8.0 distribution. As a conclusion, with such an approach, the manufacturers may feel their work is wasted. The following companies supply drivers only for a limited number of operating system: Guillemot, Hercule, Canon. These manufacturers limit their market and tarnish their image. A: Yes, the Open Hardware Certification Program . It is a recent initiative, but it already gathers a fair number of affiliates . A: Yes you can use it freely. You can even use a modified version freely. Linux Online references the various Linux logos, the original penguin and its by-products. A manufacturer has a strong interest in using free licenses for the developments of his drivers, whatever the target operating system. He also should develop drivers himself, or at least their initial version because of : But the release of a product means neither the end of its life, nor the stopping of the development and services which surround it. Once introduced, the drivers are better maintained according to the Free Software model. Indeed, that model :
As was shown, this functioning mode brings real competitive advantages, while improving quality of the proposed services.
A. GNU Free Documentation LicenseVersion 1.1, March 2000
Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. 0. PREAMBLEThe purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other written document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others. This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software. We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference. 1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONSThis License applies to any manual or other work that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language. 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You may include a translation of this License provided that you also include the original English version of this License. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original English version of this License, the original English version will prevail. 9. TERMINATIONYou may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance. 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSEThe Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. 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