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Date:      Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:07:18 -0500
From:      David Cuthbert <dacut@kanga.org>
To:        hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Another EPIA M 9000 update (was Re: More compartive power/performance results (was Re: Lower power SMP boxes?))
Message-ID:  <3E49D686.1030806@kanga.org>
In-Reply-To: <20030211100325.GA2570@HAL9000.homeunix.com>
References:  <20030210120212.G47233-100000@clubfoot.cracktown.com> <200302102042.h1AKghcu023195@apollo.backplane.com> <20030211100325.GA2570@HAL9000.homeunix.com>

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David Schultz wrote:
> Thus spake Matthew Dillon <dillon@apollo.backplane.com>:
>>    I don't understand why these companies don't just
>>    include sources for their X drivers, it would make life so much easier.

> Usually it's because they (wrongly) think it will protect their
> trade secrets from competitors.

That's part of it.  I don't know what my competitors know, but if they 
don't know the algorithms we're using, we're not going to make it easy 
to find out.  If they do know, we're not going to make it easy to verify 
what they do know.  (But if they know that we don't know what they do 
know... yeah, you know the drill. :-)

The other bit is that it can expose some glaring hardware kludges and 
actual design and implementation errors which can be embarrassing.  To 
an engineer, this is just routine stuff.  To a suit, this seems like a 
death knell.


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