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GPL'd Driver and Linux Support For New H.264 Capture Card
azop writes "Almost a year ago Slashdot covered the story of a MPEG-4 multiple input capture card with a GPL Video4Linux licensed driver. Earlier this year, Ben Collins added H.264 support into the solo6x10 Video4Linux2 GPL driver. The H.264 PCIe cards are finally released and shipping to customers. The new cards support faster frame rates and sport a PCIe interface. The driver is available for forkin' on Github."
Why is it important that linux drivers have source available but we don't worry so much about seeing the firmware source? Should we be pushing to see firmware source too? Instead should it not matter about seeing driver source? I'd love to hear your perspectives.
Anyone know where I can find a good HDMI capture / tv tuner ?
Does it play nice with M$ Media Center?
The world is truly better off without H.264
Depends on the device but the firmware may well be something that isn't very accessible to users. For example if the device uses an FPGA, which many do, then the firmware might be the FPGA programming. Ok fair enough, but do you have the Xilinx development software and hardware, not to mention expertise, to mess with it? Not nearly as easy or cheap as firing up a compiler and messing with a driver.
Even if not, if the firmware is just code for something onboard kinda like a BIOS/UEFI on a PC, it could still be pretty difficult for users to deal with.
There's also the issue of bricking the device. Messing with the driver might screw up the OS if done badly enough, but the device should be fine. However messing with the firmware could render the device unusable, and depending on how bad it was messed up could render it unfixable in that you couldn't flash a stock firmware back on it.
Too much risk for not much reward overall, which is probably a big reason not to do it.
Good show.
But all the open source drivers in the world won't mean diddly squat if the h264 patent pool gets in the way.
I bet this driver runs like a 600bhp V8 being that it's made by The Stig.
Some great comments here on this interesting article. It has made for a very good read! Thanks all! http://www.directcoachhire.com/
The REAL issue with Linux/FOSS video right now is the total lack of support for Cable Card and Tuning Adapters. Without them, there is no way to make an effective Linux DVR other than just over-the-air recordings. Gone are the days of "cable ready", analog, and in-the-clear digital.
Of course, that is not the fault of Linux, but of the media giants and cable companies who are just terrified of someone sharing/ripping their content.
I initially thought this headline was an April Fools' joke that got duped. ;-)
Seriously, almost every computer sold between 2001 and 2010 came with a WinXP license
I thought OEM licenses weren't fully transferable. They appear to be restricted to a single PC according to this page.
My understanding, from TFPR, is that the card does h.246 encoding onboard(and the manufacturer of the card has paid their protection money to the MPEG LA) so the driver has no h.246 related duties, it just configures the card and collects the encoded output.
It is not "protection money."
It is a royalty.
It is royalty that maxes out at 20 cents per unit after the first 100,000 units you sell each year.
Unless your are producing on an industrial scale, the custom boards you are buildi for the academic and hobbyist market aren't of the slightest interest to the MPEG-LA.
SUMMARY OF AVC/H.264 LICENSE TERMS
Make one.
That's difficult when the CPU core you licensed uses an instruction set that is "proprietary and confidential", or the revenue from additional sales to Linux users wouldn't cover the cost of developing free build tools.
It would be nice if the hardware vendors stopped worrying about software "thieves" so much
And it would be nice if people got a bonus check from the government just for being outstanding citizens, like in Lilliput, but that's not going to happen in this system of things.
Hint: I buy the hardware, it should come with the source code to make it work
That's difficult if your hardware product is essentially a DSP and FPGA on a board little different from the chip maker's reference board, and the programming of the DSP and FPGA makes the hardware what it is.
I've read somewhere (I don't have the citation handy) that some versions of the OEM agreement tie the license to the case to which the PC maker attached the certificate of authenticity sticker. I've read that other versions of the OEM agreement tie the case to one motherboard.
SD crap is just boring. Wake me up when you can do HD.
Hmmm...
I see how the fees for codec products (in OSes or Apps) could be a problem for open source. The Freebie there only applies to the first hundred thousand units. There's no way to limit the number of units in an open source product.
But in addition there are freebies for services and encoding for broadcast:
- Encoding as a service for a fee pays only if the encoded "title" is 12 minutes or longer. (At first I thought that might be related to YouTube's (former) 10 minute limit but the Wikipedia article claims otherwise.)
- Encoding for free-to-user (i.e. advertiser or otherwise funded) broadcast has a lump-per-year fee for air broadcast station based on the market size and is free for Internet distribution.
Looks like they are trying to be benevolent to Internet broadcasting, figure there is no money to be made off it, or don't want to get caught in a publicity or lobbying meat-grinder here in cyberspace.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
but alas no Linux support (at all.)
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?