MESSAGE
| DATE | 2008-05-05 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] ASUS EEE PC Disk Space
|
Are we meeting on Thursday? Mike Paul Ron, Fernando?
Ruben
On Mon, May 05, 2008 at 09:28:10PM -0400, Paul Robert Marino wrote:
> oh as a side note if you are wondering about Microsoft cooperating
> with the samba group in the early 90's here is a little history
>
> NMB (network message block) and SMB (server message block) were
> originally developed by D.E.C. and I.B.M. for VMS and OS2. Microsoft
> was granted the right to use the protocols when they signed a deal
> with IBM to allow them to use portions of the OS2 source code in
> Microsoft Windows 3.0. IBM made this agreement so that OS2 would have
> a viable market competitor to avoid anti trust case (the fools). at
> the same time Microsoft also hired some of the original developers of
> VMS to write the first version of Microsoft Windows NT. At the time
> Microsoft was still tryng to write integrate the new network code into
> their products without violating any copyrights, they could use the
> parts of the code that IBM wrote but not the parts of the code that
> DEC wrote. Since Samba already had a viable implementation that met
> these criteria before Microsoft ever got started they actually teamed
> up with the samba group until the release of Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.
> Upon the release of NT 4.0 Microsoft no longer needed the Samba groups
> help and Microsoft decided that continuing the alliance would be a
> liability to their new market share, because it would allow Unix and
> Novel Netware to inter operate with their products. This meant that
> working legacy implementations of their competitors products would
> never completely disappear and may even get upgraded in the future, as
> such they would always be a threat to Microsoft's market share.
>
> On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 8:54 PM, Paul Robert Marino wrote:
> > Ruben
> >
> > As far as the ndiswrapper goes thats how most of the non free wifi
> > drivers for linux work. It is kind of like introducing wine into the
> > kernel.
> >
> > The Atheros chipset uses the Madwifi driver (EEEPC's use Atheros chipsets)
> > http://madwifi.org/
> > there are two versions of the driver
> >
> > here is the statement at the top of their home page
> > "
> > MadWifi is one of the most advanced WLAN drivers available for Linux
> > today. It is stable and has an established userbase. The driver itself
> > is open source but depends on the proprietary Hardware Abstraction
> > Layer (HAL) that is available in binary form only.
> >
> > ath5k is a relatively new and emerging driver and does not depend on
> > the HAL. It is intended to replace MadWifi in the long run and exceed
> > it feature-wise. ath5k is where most of our development resources are
> > spent on now.
> > "
> > keep in mind both of these drivers are GPL it just the current stable
> > one still relies on a closed source binary provided by the hardware
> > manufacturer. the hardware manufacture did however let them see the
> > source code so that they could get full Linux support for all of the
> > features of the card immediately and later write there own fully GPL
> > driver.
> >
> > and here is Atheros's press release on the subject
> >
> > http://www.atheros.com/news/linux.html
> >
> >
> > "
> > Press Release
> >
> > Open Source Linux Driver Now Available for Atheros 802.11b/g and
> > 802.11a/b/g Chipsets
> >
> > Linux Community Rallies Behind Atheros Advanced Wireless LAN Technology
> >
> > SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 23, 2003—Atheros Communications, the leading
> > developer and market share leader in advanced wireless LAN (WLAN)
> > chipsets, today announced that the first open source Linux and FreeBSD
> > software drivers for 802.11b/g and universal 802.11a/b/g products are
> > now available as a free download from the Internet.
> >
> > Created by Open Source developer Sam Leffler, the 802.11a/b/g Linux
> > driver is intended to be used as a building block for creating fully
> > featured Linux-based 802.11b/g and 802.11a/b/g products such as
> > network adapters, access points, and home gateways. The new Linux
> > driver supports all three generations of Atheros' industry-leading
> > chipsets for high performance 802.11b/g and universal 802.11a/b/g
> > connectivity.
> >
> > "Providing support for the Atheros products is an important
> > development for the open source community," said Sam Leffler of Errno
> > Consulting. "Open source developers and researchers have been
> > hamstrung by limited access to wireless technology. Now that these
> > drivers are available, we'll no longer be constrained to use legacy
> > hardware. Developers can start implementing solutions based on
> > Atheros' industry-leading 802.11b/g and 802.11a/b/g chipsets."
> >
> > "We are committed to making wireless technology more accessible for
> > all developers," said Craig Barratt, president and chief executive
> > officer for Atheros. "Mr. Leffler's recent contribution to the Open
> > Source community empowers Linux users to take advantage of the most
> > advanced 802.11b/g and universal 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN chips
> > available on the market."
> >
> > To download a copy of the new Linux device driver please go to:
> > https://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/.
> >
> > The FreeBSD device driver is a standard part of the FreeBSD operating
> > system; it is available at: http://www.freebsd.org/.
> > "
> >
> >
> >
> > here is the deal that Microsoft made with the Samba group
> >
> > http://samba.org/samba/PFIF/
> >
> > Samba and the PFIF
> > Samba Team Receives Microsoft Protocol Documentation
> > December 20th 2007. Today the Protocol Freedom Information Foundation
> > (PFIF), a non-profit organization created by the Software Freedom Law
> > Center, signed an agreement with Microsoft to receive the protocol
> > documentation needed to fully interoperate with the Microsoft Windows
> > workgroup server products and to make them available to Free Software
> > projects such as Samba.
> >
> > Microsoft was required to make this information available to
> > competitors as part of the European Commission March 24th 2004
> > Decision in the antitrust lawsuit, after losing their appeal against
> > that decision on September 17th 2007.
> >
> > Andrew Tridgell, creator of Samba, said, "We are very pleased to be
> > able to get access to the technical information necessary to continue
> > to develop Samba as a Free Software project. Although we were
> > disappointed the decision did not address the issue of patent claims
> > over the protocols, it was a great achievement for the European
> > Commission and for enforcement of antitrust laws in Europe. The
> > agreement allows us to keep Samba up to date with recent changes in
> > Microsoft Windows, and also helps other Free Software projects that
> > need to interoperate with Windows".
> >
> > Jeremy Allison, co-creator of Samba said, "Andrew did a superb job in
> > negotiating the agreement with Microsoft. We will be able to use the
> > information obtained to continue to develop Samba and create more Free
> > Software. We are hoping to get back to the productive relationship we
> > had with Microsoft during the early 1990's when we shared information
> > about these protocols. The agreement also clarifies the exact patent
> > numbers concerned so there is no possibility of misunderstandings
> > around this issue."
> >
> > Volker Lendecke, head of the Samba Team in Europe said, "I am very
> > pleased to see that the European Commission acknowledged Free Software
> > as a valid competitor in the IT industry and that the License
> > conditions on the protocol information offered to the Free Software
> > world are indeed compatible with the GPL. This is much better than
> > what we have seen in similar cases in other countries and the
> > Commission has done a great job to push the case to this point."
> >
> > Compatible with Free Software
> > After paying Microsoft a one-time sum of 10,000 Euros, the PFIF will
> > make available to the Samba Team under non-disclosure terms the
> > documentation needed for implementation of all of the workgroup server
> > protocols covered by the EU decision.
> >
> > Although the documentation itself will be held in confidence by the
> > PFIF and Samba Team engineers, the agreement allows the publication of
> > the source code of the implementation of these protocols without any
> > further restrictions. This is fully compatible with versions two and
> > three of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Samba is published
> > under the GNU GPL which is the most widely used of all Free Software
> > licenses. In addition it allows discussion of the protocol information
> > amongst implementers which will aid technical cooperation between
> > engineers.
> >
> > Under the agreement, Microsoft is required to make available and keep
> > current a list of patent numbers it believes are related to the
> > Microsoft implementation of the workgroup server protocols, without
> > granting an implicit patent license to any Free Software
> > implementation.
> >
> > No per-copy royalties are required from the PFIF, Samba developers,
> > third party vendors or users and no acknowledgement of any patent
> > infringement by Free Software implementations is expressed or implied
> > in the agreement.
> >
> > The patent list provides us with a bounded set of work needed to
> > ensure non-infringement of Samba and other Free Software projects that
> > implement the protocols documented by Microsoft under this agreement.
> > Any patents outside this list cannot be asserted by Microsoft against
> > any implementation developed using the supplied documentation. Unlike
> > the highly dubious patent covenants recently announced by some
> > companies this warranty extends to all third parties. Also unlike past
> > agreements, this agreement has been carefully scrutinized by the
> > Software Freedom Law Center, the premier legal experts for the GPL and
> > Free Software.
> >
> > Microsoft must keep the documentation up to date with new products and
> > provide error correction assistance to parties signing the agreement.
> > Disputes will be resolved by the Trustee appointed by the Commission
> > as part of the court decision.
> >
> > The Samba Team would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Carlo
> > Piana from the Free Software Foundation Europe and Eben Moglen of the
> > Software Freedom Law Center, who have been our legal representation on
> > this case. They have provided world-class legal services for many
> > years and we are sincerely grateful.
> >
> > The Samba Team.
> > 20th December 2007
> > press-at-samba.org
> >
> > For more information see:
> >
> > * The Samba Web site
> > * An article on the history of the case
> > * An article explaining some details of the agreement
> > * The PFIF Web site
> > * The PFIF agreement text
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 6:30 PM, Ruben Safir wrote:
> > > On Fri, May 02, 2008 at 05:47:31PM -0400, Paul Robert Marino wrote:
> > > > its using the Madwifi-NG driver
> > > >
> > > > its semi native but its partially closed source there is a GPL version
> > > > being worked on.
> > > > the madwifi-ng driver is kind of like a customized version of the ndis
> > > > wrapper used to support windows wifi drivers, however it has a
> > > > customized version of the firmware driver that allows it to integrate
> > > > all of the extended features of the Atheros chipset with the Linux
> > > > kernel.
> > > > it was developed through a similar agreement to the one Microsoft made
> > > > with the Samba group. They allowed the developer to see the source
> > > > code of the windows driver including the "firmware" and make a custom
> > > > version of the "firmware" file under the condition that he wouldn't
> > > > show the source code of the "firmware" file to any one else.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I don't know what that means. It is just a wrapper for the Windows
> > > binary? And why would MS suddenly cooperate with Linux users.
> > >
> > > But most importantly, what aren't there any Free Software drivers for
> > > any wireless cards yet?
> > >
> > > Ruben
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Ruben Safir wrote:
> > > > > On Fri, May 02, 2008 at 09:39:55AM -0400, Mark Simko wrote:
> > > > > > BTW,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I got one of those cloudbook thingies.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I think it is great except for a very limited wireless range, which is a
> > > > > > serious achilles heel.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I took it apart yesterday, and added an antenna to the wireless card,
> > > > > > but that only gave a slight improvement. I may have to use the windows
> > > > > > drivers for the wireless card, which I really hate the idea of doing.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I picked up a wireless connection yesterday right over the center of
> > > > > the Manhattan bridge while on the subway. I thought that was cool.
> > > > >
> > > > > Does the ASUS use native wifi drivers?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > Also, This cloudbook had gOS, but that got clobbered the other day. The
> > > > > > update manager tried to install Ubuntu 8.04, and the kernel and image
> > > > > > files were lost. I installed Ubuntu 8.04 from the alternative disk, now.
> > > > > > Still some issues like getting sound working, but I like Ubuntu better
> > > > > > than gOS anyway.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I've been looking over some cool mods that some guys are doing to these
> > > > > > things. I'm itching to change my screen over to a touch screen.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I few weeks ago I published a company where you can buy a touch screen
> > > > > that fits over the monitor. Nice device.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > Some guys are putting XP on their cloudbooks, but I just can't see it.
> > > > > > Then you have to run antivirus, eventually get winrot, and have to
> > > > > > reinstall again. Gotta keep in mind that these UMPC are niche devices,
> > > > > > not general purpose.
> > > > >
> > > > > At this point I'm using the ASUS for near everything that I'd use a desktop for
> > > > > but a few extra things as well, like using it as a mobile phone.
> > > > >
> > > > > Ruben
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > cheers,
> > > > > > Mark
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Thu, 2008-05-01 at 23:31 -0400, Ruben Safir wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm looking at y EEE hard drive and it's very strange.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > It's a 2 gig drive. fdisk confirms it is a 2 gig drive and there
> > > > > > > is a /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > df -h says that root partition has about 410 Megs and its nearly full
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > mount says I have 3 patitions all mounted to / and that one is called
> > > > > > > the unionfs
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What is unionfs
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > When I mount /dev/sda2 by hand it is a dulicate of /dev/sda1
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > wat the hell is going on here and where is my hard drive space?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Ruben
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff
> > > > > http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
> > > > >
> > > > > So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
> > > > >
> > > > > http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
> > > > >
> > > > > "Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
> > > > >
> > > > > "The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in our own society."
> > > > >
> > > > > "> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be damned.<
> > > > > You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
> > > > >
> > > > > (c) Copyright for the Digital Millennium
> > > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff
> > > http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
> > >
> > > So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
> > >
> > > http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
> > >
> > > "Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
> > >
> > > "The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in our own society."
> > >
> > > "> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be damned.<
> > > You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > (c) Copyright for the Digital Millennium
> > >
> >
--
http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
"Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
"The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in our own society."
"> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be damned.<
You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
© Copyright for the Digital Millennium
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