[NCLUG] Re: Ubuntu sound problems--Installfest question

[Brian Wood]

On Apr 10, 2008, at 5:32 PM, Bob Proulx wrote:
>
> I guess I should list out the four types of drivers that concern me
> because they are different and I do actually treat them differently.
> (Yes, I am inconsistent.)  Any other problem drivers outside this  
> list?
>
>  RAID
>  Networking
>  Sound
>  Graphics

You might add "virtualizing". There are both free and non-free ways to  
go about setting up a virtual machine. The non-free ones are probably  
"better" in that they are generally faster and support more hardware  
(like USB2.0), but the free ones seem to be catching up fast.

QEMU is an interesting case. I believe the code is GPL, but the kernel  
module is not. You can run without the module (albeit more slowly) but  
have to load a proprietary module if you want the maximum performance.

I agree with you about some outfits wanting to get the advantages of  
GPL code without giving anything back. Tivo is probably the best  
(worst?) example of this.

beww