Digg Article on Logitech and Linux.

[TheTaylorEffect]

Hello,

This is my second post since installing Ubuntu successfully this week (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=493468) (so far so good)!

I just happened across this post on Digg (http://digg.com/linux_unix/Logitech_gives_Linux_users_the_finger).

As a newer Linux user, this made me wonder what you seasoned Linux Veterans thing about the article (and the flame war in the comments section of Digg).

Do you think that Logitech has an obligation to hand over "confidential" development data to a customer?

I'm very eager to hear your thoughts.

-Mike

[cobrn1]

I don't really understand the companies reluctance to support linux. Everytime I look at hardware I specifically look for things that support linux. If not it's not getting bought. I recommend the same to my freiend (even if they don't use linux, just in case they want to. Anyways, I think it shows something important about the character of the company you're dealing with).

When you've got developers willing to sign non-disclosure agreements _and_ work for free then there's really no excuse. Are rival companies _really_ going to trawl through a linux driver hopping to find some snippet to improve their own product? I mean, how much can they really gain from the open source driver?

In summary, yes they should - i want to know wtf i'm getting, and I want it to run properly. Given all the benefits (and I can't see any downsides) they're fools not to, and they're just losing out on money.

[smoker]

i've never understood this myself, it is like cutting off a serious amount of custom, and the more popular linux becomes, if hardware makers don't change their tack, then that serious amount of custom becomes a larger and larger percent of lost bunsiness.

[jrusso2]

Hello,

This is my second post since installing Ubuntu successfully this week (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=493468) (so far so good)!

I just happened across this post on Digg (http://digg.com/linux_unix/Logitech_gives_Linux_users_the_finger).

As a newer Linux user, this made me wonder what you seasoned Linux Veterans thing about the article (and the flame war in the comments section of Digg).

Do you think that Logitech has an obligation to hand over "confidential" development data to a customer?

I'm very eager to hear your thoughts.

-Mike

I don't think they are obligated to hand over development data but I think its in their own best interest to do so if they are not willing to produce a driver for other OS.

I know a always look for linux compaitable when I buy hardware.

[SunnyRabbiera]

well logitech products most of the time partially work on linux, I know I can get my elite keyboard running pretty well under ubuntu (though not as much on PCLOS)
its the special function keys that get you, thats why I buy HP when it comes to keyboards, but mice from logitech are very good under linux unless its the wireless ones.

[euler_fan]

I've always been curious as to why hardware manufacturers like logitech believe their competitiveness is somehow enhanced by keeping drivers, etc, confidential.

I can understand saying them not wanting to release certain details of how they make their hardware or wanting to protect their design (via patents, NDA's, etc), but I have a much harder time believing that they can't protect their design and still open source the drivers, etc.

IMHO, their hardware is going to be junk whether or not they open their drivers and who knows? Maybe some of the bad/poorly-performing kit on the market isn't bad hardware just poorly written drivers ([cough]ATI on linux?[\cough]). Then those of us who want to can fix the problem and their sales get a boost because everyone can see them as a good product with a good driver not a bad product because of a bad driver.

Of course, some companies are simply making bad gear and no driver--open source or otherwise--can fix that :)

[macogw]

I don't really understand the companies reluctance to support linux. Everytime I look at hardware I specifically look for things that support linux. If not it's not getting bought. I recommend the same to my freiend (even if they don't use linux, just in case they want to. Anyways, I think it shows something important about the character of the company you're dealing with).

Exactly! Non-Windows users are about 6% of computer users right? Most of us are computer nerds (yeah, even the Mac users). Most non-nerds ask computer nerds for advice on buying computer stuff because they know we know better. If we always tell them to avoid these bad companies, then more than just us (the 6%) is avoiding them. If we each tell 5 people on average to avoid those companies, that's us + (us * 5). That's 36% of computer-users now. Given that there's probably a lot of telling dozens of people each, that could be more. Now, what company wants to risk losing over 1/3 of potential business based on ******* off a few nerds on a minority OS? As much as they like to ignore us because there's so few of us, they do need to recognize that we hold a lot of influence over the technological purchasing decisions of everyone in our vicinity, and the ripple effect will get them.


Maybe some of the bad/poorly-performing kit on the market isn't bad hardware just poorly written drivers ([cough]ATI on linux?[\cough]).
Nah, their drivers are junk on Windows too.