Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 2 June 2008, 12:39 PM
DeviceVM's proprietary/Linux split explained
Late Friday I got this comment from DeviceVM's David Speiser:
While the application environment of Splashtop is based on Linux, the part of Splashtop that is embedded into BIOS and achieves the instant-on first screen is based on a proprietary RTOS that DeviceVM developed. In our product, we have proper credit and acknowledgment of open source components used.
That being said, we acknowledge and embrace the open-source philosophy behind Linux. We are a big believer in open source, and we are actively contributing back to the community. Our source code (the part under GPL) is open and available, and we're glad to be contributing back to the community.
So now you - and we - know.
PreviousComments on this post
That makes a lot of sense, although I'd like to know what the Extensible Firmware Initiative bods are doing in the same area. That goes through periods of boosterism and silence; we're currently in a quiet time, although quite clearly things are going on.
Some die-hard open source fans don't like mixing things up with proprietary software in the DeviceVM fashion. I think that, provided it's done in accordance with licence conditions, it's a healthy and useful thing to do; it speeds development and establishes the open source model as something that works well in different commercial ways.
Wouldn't it be nice to turn your computer on and and be working in a few seconds, instead of a couple of minutes? I'm a Linux user, thanks to M$, and it's unstable, insecure and buggy software. By putting Linux on the motherboard, you can have a smaller footprint, a faster OS, better security, and still do what needs to be done for a lower cost. The only problem I see is what will M$ do to Asus for adding open source to the mix?
Frankly, I don't know how much Microsoft can do vs. Asus over this. (But if they were to, I'd love to know about it)
