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Re: [PLUG] Want Video Card Recommendation
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On Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 02:09:42PM -0400, Matthew Rosewarne wrote:
> I don't think there's much else you could do [to get free software
> video drivers] that they would remotely care about.
Allegedly, Richard Stallman once threatened to suicide bomb a
proprietary software company's office.[*] I think they'd care
about that.
Discounting illegal and unethical tactics, you still have several
other options.
You can donate to the Free Software Foundation. They've done something
you probably won't: protest in public[1].
[1] http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/rms-ati-protest.html
You can donate to the Software Freedom Law Center. They not only protect
free software developers from unscrupulous lawyers, they're the
organization NVidia or AMD (formerly ATI) calls when they want to make
their code or specifications free, but their lawyers aren't sure about
the consequences.
You can write them a letter. It won't go to the company president, but
it might go to the company's resident free software advocate. In the
hands of an advocate, a customer's letter is not just a tool but a
reason to keep fighting.
> I don't see how [reverse-engineered drivers] encourages them to be
> more open [...]
A free software driver destroys the argument for keeping code secret.
-Dave
[*] Sam Williams, "Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for
Free Software," Page 97. Online at:
http://oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch07.html
--
David A. Harding Website: http://dtrt.org/
1 (609) 997-0765 Email: dave@dtrt.org
Jabber/XMPP: dharding@jabber.org
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