Encouraging asking for source code?

[Joel Goguen]

The documentation for switching to Ubuntu from Windows
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows) is
encouraging users to email asking for either a Linux driver from the
company, or for the source to their Windows drivers.  Is this
necessarily what users should be encouraged to do?  If users ask for a
Linux driver, we're likely to get something like what we have to put up
with from nVidia and ATI: a binary-only driver that no one can look at
to improve or add support for the newest cards.  My laptop video card
wasn't supported until half-way through 8.04, but I'm certain that
support would have been ready much earlier if the nVidia drivers were
open.  Also, asking for drivers means extra work for the company, and
asking a company to take on producing a driver means consistently more
work for them, meaning spending money with no guarantee of getting
something in return.  From their perspective anyway, we all (should)
know that a company producing a full-featured driver for Linux would see
their sales increase as users buy those products instead of others that
don't work as well or aren't fully supported.

Asking for the source to their Windows drivers, IMO, isn't something
anyone should be doing.  Do I believe companies should open their code?
Absolutely.  Do I believe most companies will?  Absolutely not, and
asking companies for their proprietary source code seems to me to be
counterproductive.  Instead, we (users and developers alike) should be
asking for the documentation needed to write our own drivers for the
devices.  With a driver written by Ubuntu (or Fedora, or Mandriva, or
Linux kernel...) developers, we're certain to have an open driver that
we can improve and make bug fixes for.  Even if that means writing our
own firmware as well, since some firmwares aren't freely redistributable
but need to be uploaded to the device every time it's used.

The next paragraph on the page seems (to me) to discourage users from
actually asking manufacturers for any of this to begin with.  To me, the
start of the paragraph boils down to "if you get to the point where you
need to ask the manufacturer for a driver, you may as well give up, go
buy new hardware, and tell the manufacturer you won't buy from them".
Advocacy (in this case, asking manufacturers for documentation required
to write drivers) is a great way for non-technical users to get
involved, which I think is something that should be encouraged.  Even
asking for documentation only, the chances of getting a device to work
aren't great, but they're probably better than the chances of getting
source code or a binary-only driver, and this might encourage users to
actually call or email manufacturers.  Unfortunately, with laptops
becoming more popular, the only way to not buy from a manufacturer is to
not buy laptops (or pre-built desktops) with the manufacturer's hardware
in it...

With all that, I think these two changes (or something similar) should
be made to this page:

1. Change point 6 in the list under Hardware Support to read: "Call or
e-mail the manufacturer to ask for sufficient documentation for the
Ubuntu community to create a driver, or for a Linux driver from the
manufacturer."

2. The paragraph following this list should be edited to read: "If you
get to number 6, it may take a while for your device to be supported by
Ubuntu.  We don't expect you to create your own driver, so it is
normally best to skip number 7.  In a perfect world, all hardware would
be supported, but unfortunately that is not the case. If you do end up
having to buy alternative hardware, consider telling your manufacturer
they have lost a customer due to poor Linux support! That way, they just
might change their attitude towards supporting Linux."

Thoughts?

-- 
Joel Goguen
Bug-free code is a myth.
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