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> An open source driver

Lost you already. Since Fuchsia uses a pushover license instead of a copyleft license, the vendors' drivers aren't going to be open source. Look how many companies today don't open-source their Linux drivers, and they're breaking the law by not doing so. It's going to be so much worse when there's "nothing" wrong with keeping them proprietary.

2 comments

> Since Fuchsia uses a pushover license instead of a copyleft license [emph. add.]

This is great term for it, thank you.

I can't claim credit for coming up with it: that honor goes to RMS and the FSF. See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-compatibility.html and https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-recommendations.html#sm...

Huh; I've actually read both of those before and not noticed that, so still thanks for bringing it to my attention, although now I feel a bit bad about my own reading comprehension.

However hard it is to produce an open source driver, that's how hard it is. Sometimes the hardware vendors do it. Sometimes dedicated developers produce an open source, clean room driver.

So, when an open source driver exists, Fuschia will make it useful for a long time.

With linux they are required to release some version of their driver even if its for an old kernel. Without any source it will be hard to produce a driver ever. Look at nvidia cards which still have shit drivers after how many years?

Further its entirely possible for a device to require signed drivers and their is even a security incentive to doing so. They don't have to ever let you have your own drivers for their hardware.

There exists hardware that you are screwed by. How is that Fuschia's fault? How is that anyone in the open source operating system world's fault? Given the fact that some hardware is completely impenetrable, why would someone wish harm upon Fuschia?

A multi billion dollar company doesn't need you to shield its efforts from criticism. You have somehow anthropomorphized an OS project and are treating it like a frail animal in need of your protection. It's composed of actual adults who presumably can read critical comments without coming to "harm".

Hardware running software that is either proprietary or based on permissively licensed software is everywhere. It's usually impractical or impossible to run your own software on such devices. There is no particular reason to trust Google any more than any other big company. Corporate persons judged by the moral standards one would apply to people are nearly always bad people even wherein most of the people therein are OK to good. Trusting them beyond their own self interest is nearly always a mistake.

No, I mean, you are blaming one project, Fuschia, for something no project can fix.

Therefore, your criticism is completely without merit, and should be ignored entirely.

1) Fuschia doesn't have a property. (It doesn't compel hardware vendors to provide open source drivers.)

2) No other operating system can possibly have that property either.

3) Therefore Fuschia should die, to help one of those other operating systems succeed.

Do you not see the flaw in this argument?

As the owners of the platform Google logically they COULD require all oems to ship open drivers as a condition of using the software. My criticism lays out legitimate concerns as a potential user to a potential user. I don't think it has to have an actionable solution by a third party to be valid. It merely has to connect with objective reality and have a well supported line of reasoning. If you are looking for an actionable item I suggest waiting and seeing how open the platform is and not investing development time or dollars in it if its even less so than android.

As an alternative I suggest you look at actual Linux devices even if they are objectively worse if they are more open.

Fuchsia could have fixed it by being copyleft licensed. That doesn't preclude in any way having a stable interface for drivers.

Hardware vendors are under no obligation to use Fuschia. Therefore, you have still not compelled hardware vendors to provide open source drivers.

Linux has not compelled Nvidia to produce good OpenGL drivers.

No, really, walk me through this.