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Explaining WLAN Chips' Poor Linux Support
morcheeba writes "Kernel Traffic is reporting (mirror mirror list) that 'Some WLAN Chip Specs Secret To Protect Military Communications.' While this is stretching it a bit -- these radios are generally limited to a narrow frequency range and few modulation types -- software can cause illegal radio operation, especially when the laws vary by country. Is Linux support for 802.11g and Centrino chipsets going to be delayed by manufacturers afraid of FCC harassment? An interesting discussion on the future of Openness in radio chipsets." Interesting comments from Alan Cox in here about just how flexible some of these chips are.
Of the endless game the "open source commode (sorry, community)" will play until it's dead and buried - the catch up/me too game. Here we have the "community" with their mouths open trying to shout down the eeeevil hardware companies for not allowing them to look at their specs, when the other 90 or so percent of the world already has working drivers. Several months ago the G hardware was made available and put to use...and it took this long for the "community" to get wind that there are no drivers for their toy OS?
Put the tissues away and get with the program - companies don't care about your complaints because they don't make a nickel supporting communistic operating systems. Wake up, linux will never win and will always play catch up...maybe in 2005 you'll be able to enjoy your 802.11g cards. Think that's a joke? Look at when Carmack released the source to Doom and Quake...long after ID made it's cash and long after those games were even relevent. That's how things go when you play with a toy OS.