open source tyranny exposed

[Philippe Landau]

the main linux actors and distributors
try to make open source look like giving control to users,
while in practice the decisions are made top-down,
and the main programmers are bought off by a few big companies,
controlling everything while exploiting thousands of volunteers.

http://www.smcc.demon.nl/webcam/
 > I've decided to discontinue supporting PWC, the Philips webcam driver 
for Linux. The reason is continual disagreement between me and the 
kernel maintainers on the binary-only part that PWC has, in order to use 
the webcam to its full potential. This has now reached a point where I'm 
throwing in the towel.
 >
 > As most of you probably know, the driver consists of two parts, PWC 
which is available as source and part of the kernel, and PWCX, the 
binary-only decompressor part. PWC itself works, but with limitations in 
framerate and resolution; to get the full benfits of the cam, you must 
use PWCX.
 >
 > However, in order for the PWCX module to function, it needs to 
register itself with the PWC module; for this purpose, PWC exports a 
function outside of the kernel, a so-called hook. And this is where it's 
all about. The kernel maintainers simply do not want to allow any kind 
of hook or function or mechanism, specifically written to make it 
possible to load a binary-only module. So this week Greg Kroah, the USB 
maintainer, decided to remove that hook from PWC, making it impossible 
to load PWCX on a standard kernel; you'd have to patch your kernel 
first, and only then would it start working again.
 >
 > To me, that's unacceptable. For three reasons:
 >
 >     * The mechanism has been part of PWC since the day it was 
introduced into the kernel, more than 3 years ago. I think it's a bit 
late to make a point of it now.
 >     * It makes supporting the module a lot harder for both me and the 
users. A lot of (beginning) users are not comfortable with patching 
their kernel, while now we have situation where PWC and sometimes PWCX 
would work 'out-of-the-box' on most distributions.
 >     * And last, and this is my main grievance, with this they simply 
take away the rights from the Linux user, to opt for using a binary 
module. That option has now become a lot harder to exercise for you, all 
in the name of Open Source pureness.

 > ... this is maybe the first time users are directly affected. There 
are two sides to this:
 >
 >     * Linux users suddenly realize that they are at the mercy of the 
whims of the kernel developers (and not just me, as some have claimed), 
which is bitter while they often have choson Linux so they would not be 
at the mercy of the whims of some big-ass company.
 >     * Kernel developers may slowly begin to realize that Linux is 
growing beyond their control. The popularity of Linux is putting 
pressure on them to be less strict on their policies, since what they 
want is not always what users want.
 >
 > I've received quite a number of mails these past few days (too much 
to answer them all personally, I'm afraid). A lot of them were 
supportive, understanding my decision, though with regret. It also 
strenghtens my believe that a lot of Linux users don't care much about 
the Open Source pureness of their system, as long their stuff works. I 
mean, if we were all like Linus, there wouldn't be a demand for binary 
RPMS, would it?
 >
 > At the same time, the mail exchange I had with the kernel maintainers 
seem like I'm talking to a stone wall.

 > I do want to say a big THANK YOU to all the people who sent me 
thank-yous, patches and bugreports (yes, even those) that I have 
received over the many years. On the other hand, I do feel sorry for 
you. You have had no part in this battle over ideologies, but you are, 
ultimately, the victims. I daresay 99% of PWC users don't care about the 
binary part, may find it a nuisance but when it starts working that is 
quickly forgotten. I don't think I've had a single mail in those years 
that told me I was being 'evil' for producing a binary only module. 
Well, maybe one.
 >
 > So what can you do about it? Not much, unless the kernel maintainers 
ease up a little, and stop being such fundamentalistic turds.

kind regards     philippe