Re: linux-kernel-digest V1 #3074

Richard Stallman (rms@gnu.org)
Sat, 2 Jan 1999 12:43:30 -0500


>When such an important piece of free software as Linux contains ads
>for proprietary software, it gives the whole community an unfortunate
>message--not the sort of message will inspire people to write
>additional free drivers.

On the contrary. Its *exactly* the fact that there wasn't a good
*free* driver for the Turtle Beach WaveFront soundcards that made me
write one.

I'm glad that you responded in that way, but I don't think there's a
conflict with what I said. We don't *need* to tell all the users
about a non-free program, to make it clear to hackers that there
isn't a free program to do the job.

If some hackers will get inspiration from the knowledge that a
proprietary driver exists, it is enough to tell the hackers--perhaps
by sending mail to linux-kernel. There's no need to tell all the
users about it, and certainly no need to tell them where to get it!

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