Re: networked mp3 players

[Steven Edgar <yahoogroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday 19 February 2004 18:48, Mark Harrison \(Yahoo!\) wrote:
> I am amazed at how quickly conspiracy theorists have jumped to this
> conclusion.
>
> There is, as far as I can see, no evidence that the device uses any
SliMP3
> code internally, or for that matter any other GPL code.
>

Well, it would appear that one of the developers got hold of a pre-release
version, and it had the same web pages as one of the slimserver themes and
the exact same bug that appeared in one of the earlier versions of the
server. Pretty damning evidence, assuming of course that the source of
those
comments is to be believed. Technically when they shipped this pre-release
version, assuming it to be based on the GPL'd slimserver, then they should
also have provided source, or a way to get it. I will be interested to see
what happens when they go to market with the product, if the source appears
then everyone will be happy.

Whether the actual firmware of the device itself is opensource originated,
I'd
say that there is no evidence either way. Indeed if you consider that there
is a Linux slimp3 emulator available which AFAIK does not use any of the
slimp3 firmware,

http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pdw/slimp3slave/

then you can see for a device to be slimp3 compatible isn't a huge effort
(this was one guys work) in and of itself.

I will grant you that the Roku product does look every good, my first
reaction
was 'I want one of those', but I prefer not to deal with companies who act
in
an manner incompatible with my personal ethics (I am something of an
open-source fan). I am not saying that Roku are unethical, merely that
there
is a possibility that they are not at this time playing by the rules, so I
am
going to be patient and see what happens. It would be absolutely fantastic
if
Roku and Slim both worked on the slimserver and produced competing,
compatible devices. We would get a better product, both hardware and
software, and possibly at a better price. A nice example of Opensource and
capitalism working well together.

As to conspiracy theorists, there have been a number of proven examples of
various companies using open-source code in recent months without complying
with the licence it ships under. In this climate, where many companies are
either ignorant of their obligations or choose to ignore them it is only
fair
that those with a vested interest in the code work to protect it from use
other than that authorised by them under the license they released it
under.
In many cases it is simply that companies have not appreciated fully their
obligations, and gentle reminders often resolve the issue. These people are
not after money, just due recognition and the changes made to their code
released.



Steven


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