Richard Stallman Explains Free Hardware
Richard Stallman answered a query of mine today, regarding the need for free hardware - that is, hardware which the public is not restricted from understanding, so we can write free software drivers for that hardware:
We need free software to interface with the hardware, and to develop it, we need access to the hardware specs. I have often called on companies to “publish the specs” because that’s the way I envisioned free software developers would be able to write free drivers. I do not approve of nondisclosure agreements for generally useful technical information. However, if signing one enables you to write a free driver, that may justify the evil.
(This query of mine started from a thread on the gobuntu mailing list)
The Richard Stallman Explains Free Hardware by David Crossland, except the quotations and unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Personal Thoughts
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