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Linux Kernel Devs Offer Free Driver Development
schwaang writes "Linux Kernel hacker Greg Kroah-Hartman, author of Linux Kernel in a Nutshell has posted an epic announcement on his blog. This could portend increased device compatibility for Linux users, higher-quality drivers, and fewer non-free binary blobs." From the announcement: "[T]he Linux kernel community is offering all companies free Linux driver development... All that is needed is some kind of specification that describes how your device works, or the email address of an engineer that is willing to answer questions every once in a while. If your company is worried about NDA issues surrounding your device's specifications, we have arranged a program... in order to properly assure that all needed NDA requirements are fulfilled. Now your developers will have more time to work on drivers for all of the other operating systems out there, and you can add 'supported on Linux' to your product's marketing material."
Microsoft will take a new approach toward mid-size companies it suspects of using unlicensed software, sending a series of letters culminating in a threat of legal action from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a company official said today. By involving the BSA, which is an advocate for copyright and intellectual property issues, Microsoft is hoping to "spark off the engagement" with its customers, said Ram Dhaliwal, Microsoft's licensing programs manager in the UK. "If they are using our software, we are simply going to ask them to pay for it," said Dhaliwal, whose group runs the company's Software Asset Management (SAM) programme. In the past, Microsoft contacted companies by phone or email and asked to come in and audit their software. Microsoft contends companies have an incentive to have legally licensed software, and its audit and asset management teams also can look for ways the company can save money, he said. Most companies comply, but up to 3 percent don't. Under the new programme, if Microsoft doesn't receive a response after 14 days, the company will send a succession of three "escalation" letters over three weeks. The last two letters warn the case could be turned over the BSA, which could pursue legal action, Dhaliwal said. Microsoft is targeting companies with around 250 PCs in the initiative. Companies of that size often have problems with using incorrectly licensed and counterfeit software, Dhaliwal said. Microsoft keeps purchase records for volume-licence customers, and those lists can reveal usage inconsistencies, Dhaliwal said. For example, a company with 250 PCs may be flagged if it bought several server licences but only two client-access licences, which are required to connect desktops to an Exchange email server. "At that point, if the customer point blank is refusing and or telling us he doesn't want to talk with us and we are seeing this large discrepancy, that's when we will engage the BSA," Dhaliwal said. The BSA has 100 piracy investigations ongoing against UK businesses, it said last month. Some 27 percent of the software used by UK businesses is illegal, the BSA said, citing statistics from market analyst IDC. So far, Microsoft will use the new approach only in the UK, Dhaliwal said. Jackson at the Brit Awards in 1996. At the 1996 Brit Awards, Jackson performed the track "Earth Song", dressed in white and surrounded by children and an actor portraying a Rabbi. In an attempt to recreate a scene from the video - where he is spreading his arms between two trees - it seemed that Jackson was making Christ-like poses whilst being lifted into the air by a crane with a wind machine blowing back his hair. Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker and his friend Peter Mansell mounted a stage invasion in protest. Cocker leapt onstage, pretended to expose his rear, danced and sat back down. In response to the ensuing media scrutiny of the action, Cocker responded, "My actions were a form of protest at the way Michael Jackson sees himself as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing... I just ran on the stage and showed off... All I was trying to do was make a point and do something that lots of other people would have loved to have done if only they'd dared."[40] Cocker received vocal support from the British press: the March 2, 1996 edition of Melody Maker, for example, suggested Cocker should be knighted, while Noel Gallagher claimed "Jarvis Cocker is a star and he should be given MBE." Gallagher said of Jackson's behavior: "for Michael Jackson to come over to this country after what's all gone on - and I think we all know what I'm talking about here - to dress in a white robe, right, thinking he's the Messiah - I mean who does he think he is? Me?"[41] The cover of Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. In 1997, Jackson released an album of new material with remixes of hit singles from HIStory titled Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.[37] The album's five original songs were named "Blood On The Dance Floor", "Is It Scary?", "Ghosts", "Superfly Sister" and "Morphine". Of the