feedback to NVidia [was: Nvidia Drivers]

[Rui Miguel Seabra]

On Wed, 2004-05-26 at 09:34 -0700, Frank Tanner III wrote:
> Their drivers ARE free.  They're not Open Source. 

Their drivers are gratis.
I'm talking about freedom, not access to code.
Access to code is a pre-condition for freedom.

Free Software is software that grants you, the user, 4 freedoms:

 0. the freedom to run the program for any purpose
 1. the freedom to study the program and adapt it for your needs
    (you need access to source code for this freedom)
 2. the freedom to redistribute copies
 3. the freedom to publish modified versions

> That is your beef.  OBVIOUSLY there are published
> specifications out there.

No there aren't. Only "in there" under an NDA, which forbids releasing
the knowledge as Free Software.

> Go do research, get those specifications, and write
> your own drivers if you don't like the ones nVidia provides.

You talk about research and creating drivers, and you don't even know
zit. They don't publish the specifications (we all wish they did).

And Free Software is not about gratis software.
Ever heard of thinking on free speech, not free beer?

Rui
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