Well, at least that would make some drivers for embedded systems go to the main tree. That's quite rare nowadays (embedded systems builders are the leechers, they take the code but never contribute back).
I'm working with embedded systems and I don't think it is leeching on purpose. People building embedded systems write drivers and post them to the embedded lists. But they lack any incentive to follow through and get the drivers included in mainline. Getting drivers into mainline is a major hassle.
This seems to be changing now. The people making embedded chips are sponsoring drivers in the kernel in order to reduce the burden on the their customers. Previously the chip companies didn't provide much Linux support at all. This group has incentives to get their drivers included since they are receiving revenue from the chips.
This is a significant shift in how the embedded world operates.
5 October 2007 at 15:09
Anonymous said...
I worked for an embedded systems company some years ago, and we simply had no time to send back our changes. Nobody was interested in doing it or saw the interest. I found it was bad, but couln't do much.
6 October 2007 at 00:29
While I can only applaud Greg-KH's Linux Driver Project, you have to wonder about the projects on offer. It seems to me like most of the work to be done is on embedded drivers, with companies skimming on driver development costs. I hope we see more offers for consumer hardware in the future.
"Free work?"
3 Comments -
Well, at least that would make some drivers for embedded systems go to the main tree. That's quite rare nowadays (embedded systems builders are the leechers, they take the code but never contribute back).
5 October 2007 at 13:09
I'm working with embedded systems and I don't think it is leeching on purpose. People building embedded systems write drivers and post them to the embedded lists. But they lack any incentive to follow through and get the drivers included in mainline. Getting drivers into mainline is a major hassle.
This seems to be changing now. The people making embedded chips are sponsoring drivers in the kernel in order to reduce the burden on the their customers. Previously the chip companies didn't provide much Linux support at all. This group has incentives to get their drivers included since they are receiving revenue from the chips.
This is a significant shift in how the embedded world operates.
5 October 2007 at 15:09
I worked for an embedded systems company some years ago, and we simply had no time to send back our changes. Nobody was interested in doing it or saw the interest. I found it was bad, but couln't do much.
6 October 2007 at 00:29