Building a free future in embedded devices [LWN.net]

Building a free future in embedded devices

Posted Oct 21, 2006 19:35 UTC (Sat) by cventers (subscriber, #31465)
In reply to: Building a free future in embedded devices by dirtyepic
Parent article: Free gadgets need free software

Sure they would. Now, don't get me wrong - it's a scary proposition at
first. People were really nervous about relying on Linux for anything
important.

When you say that relying on independent third-party software that a
company has no control, influence, or power over to power their product is
mind-bogglingly retarded, I have two answers:

1. Free software gives you perfect control, influence and power over the
independent third-party software
2. Lots of product and service providers _do_ make that mind-bogglingly
stupid move already - just look at Symbian and Windows CE.

All the doomsday scenarios you mention:

1. No control? Not true. They can make whatever changes they want to the
software, and if upstream doesn't like them, that doesn't stop them from
using those changes in their own version.
2. No influence? Not true. They can hire / employ one or more Rockbox
developers, just as some companies hire Linux developers today.
3. Mainline goes in a different direction? No problem, you can still keep
using _your_ Rockbox.
4. Mainline devs lose interest and the project goes away? No problem, you
can still keep using _your_ Rockbox.

Relying on proprietary software leaves you in a mess any time one of these
scenarios comes true. Home-brew software, and free software, do not.
Home-brew software costs more to make and maintain than free software, so
free software is indeed an interesting option.

(Log in to post comments)

Building a free future in embedded devices

Posted Oct 21, 2006 20:39 UTC (Sat) by dirtyepic (subscriber, #30178) [Link]

> All the doomsday scenarios you mention:
>
> 1. No control? Not true. They can make whatever changes they want to the
> software, and if upstream doesn't like them, that doesn't stop them from
> using those changes in their own version.
> 2. No influence? Not true. They can hire / employ one or more Rockbox
> developers, just as some companies hire Linux developers today.
> 3. Mainline goes in a different direction? No problem, you can still keep
> using _your_ Rockbox.
> 4. Mainline devs lose interest and the project goes away? No problem, you
> can still keep using _your_ Rockbox.

All of which amount to developing and maintaining their own fork of the software, with the additional requirement they must share all of their work with anyone they distribute the device to. By developing and maintaining their own proprietary firmware in-house they also avoid the above scenarios, with the added bonus of keeping all their little sekrits safe from prying eyes. They lose out on startup costs, not to mention peer review, community contribution, and all the other goodies that are obvious to us on our side of the fence, of course, but somehow i don't think they really care that much.

Building a free future in embedded devices

Posted Oct 21, 2006 22:10 UTC (Sat) by cventers (subscriber, #31465) [Link]

Well, it sounds like we're wasting our time with all this free software
stuff then, huh?!

Your argument could be generically applied to anyone accepting free
software as part of their product, and yes - that includes Tivo
themselves!

Personally I think the market is starting to grow up a little bit, as
businesses realize that free software is the best means of software
production. But perhaps I'm wrong, and the billions of dollars in
investment is actually nothing more than a blind gamble.