Why graphics drivers are proprietary

[Alan Cox]

> I really don't think Linux or GNU or any FOSS could exist in a purely
> communistic society or even a plain old tyranny like Bobby Mugabe-land.

It manages to exist in the USSA ;)

If you look at Linux contributions they come from everywhere. The core of
the network routing code was written by Russians (and Alexey who
worked at a nuclear research instutite even turned up at OLS with a
'minder' who as per every stereotype was apparently capable of drinking
vodka in half pints). We have code from government projects, from
educational projects (some of which are in effect state funded), from
businesses, from volunteers, from a wide variety of non profit causes.
Today you can boot a box running Russian based network code with an NSA
written ethernet driver.

While the debate is mildly amusing the world is not black and white. The
real world runs on a mix of fudges, bits of different philosophies all
taped together and often stealing bits of each others material while
claiming to do the opposite.

Linux reflects that, free software reflects that. It's a myriad different
things to a myriad different groups of people. Even the open source/free
software divide is much about "good for business" v "good for society"
being seen as the prime goal of whoever is involved.

Alan