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Open-sourcing Ethernet
Too late... Xerox assigned the Ethernet patents to the IEEE years ago and the specs are freely available, which is precisely why Ethernet is the dominant networking technology (anyone can implement it without paying any license fees or doing any reverse-engineering).

Allow me to provide a good non-ideological reason for buying a motherboard with an open-source BIOS: Commercial manufacturers tend to lose interest in older hardware over time and will stop updating the BIOS. If they're the only ones that can do it (or if the manufacturer goes out of business), then the user is out of luck. If, on the other hand, the BIOS is open source, then 3rd party developers can continue to fix bugs and make improvments long after the manufacturer has lost interest.

Besides, the main factors in buying a motherboard are the quality of the hardware and the speed of the processor, not secret proprietory features that would be revealed by open-sourcing the BIOS.
Posted by: John L. Ries   Posted on: 02/28/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Another attack on employment  osreinstall | 02/28/05
I don't see it as such  voska | 02/28/05
IBM gave the specs in 1981  osreinstall | 02/28/05
Chipsets are already commodities  John L. Ries | 02/28/05
Not all chipsets  osreinstall | 02/28/05
Personally I think Stallman is off his rocker  voska | 03/01/05
Can't handle competition huh?  Squawkbox | 03/01/05
squawker  osreinstall | 03/01/05
BAD Idea  htotten | 02/28/05
Open-sourcing Ethernet  John L. Ries | 02/28/05
What for?  osreinstall | 02/28/05
Not everyone does the 3-year upgrade cycle (NT)  John L. Ries | 02/28/05
I do not upgrade every 3 years  osreinstall | 02/28/05
I do..  Patrick Jones | 03/01/05
but they don't.  maxo_z | 03/01/05
The mhz race is over  osreinstall | 03/01/05
Good point  voska | 03/01/05
Foundation wants more of the PC to be free  Loverock Davidson | 02/28/05
Question(s)  Patrick Jones | 03/01/05
Having worked for one of the top three ...  ShadeTree | 02/28/05
...and OSs that require certain details remain protected...  Root User | 03/01/05
So in reply to what I thought was a well thought out ...  ShadeTree | 03/01/05
Of course they do  CobraA1 | 02/28/05
Message has been deleted.  iqula22 | 03/01/05
As long as he doesn't mandate its his way or no way  FilledOut | 03/01/05
My 20 year old vision nears reality  Roger Ramjet | 03/01/05
This was done with the ...  ShadeTree | 03/01/05
where can I buy this then?  voska | 03/01/05
Go to your local landfill it's free happy  osreinstall | 03/01/05
I don't know if it is still commercially available but it was called the ..  ShadeTree | 03/01/05
You are going the wrong way  osreinstall | 03/01/05
Man you guy's all missed the key point  Linux User 147560 | 03/01/05
And you are missing reality  osreinstall | 03/01/05
Whole PC should be free  FilledOut | 03/06/05

What do you think?

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