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Leveraging Linux when Hardware is a Commodity?

Posted by Cliff on from the it-all-boils-down-to-added-value dept.

AKInnovation asks: "My company produces peripheral hardware used in commercial applications, such as retail POS. In our market, amongst other such hardware manufacturers, we are the only ones to offer Linux software solutions (drivers). This distinction has recently won us several large accounts. When the hardware becomes a commodity, and you must compete on the software side to keep the money coming in, how can releasing your code as Open Source be rationalized to management?"

1 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. my experience by cloudless.net · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I just installed Mandrake 10 on my NEC Versa laptop for a few days, and I've discovered several pieces of my hardware don't work:
    - Saitrk P750 USB gamepad
    - Creative Nomad Zen NX
    - PCMCIA CompactFlash card reader
    - built-in SD and memorystick slots

    All of them work fine with Windows XP, but I can't get them to work at all in Linux. So now I just have to rely on dual boot when I want to use the hardware.

    I just wish those companies would release drivers for Linux.