Re: [hpoj-devel] new I/O driver coming soon (second try)

[Joe P. <joe...@sn...>]

On Saturday 03 March 2001 01:32, PASCHAL,DAVID (HP-Roseville,ex1) wrote:

<...>
> Actually, another division within HP is actively preparing
> better inkjet drivers.  I'm not involved with that effort, but I took the
> liberty of forwarding a couple of the relevant messages to several managers
> and engineers who are involved.  It's a work in progress and no code has
> been released yet, but you can get a sneak preview at
> http://hpinkjet.sourceforge.net.  This driver was also demonstrated at
> LinuxWorld Expo last month in the "e-mail garden".  I don't know exactly
> when it will be released, but once I find out that it has been released I'll
> be sure to make it known on the hpoj mailing lists.

I didn't see support for officejets mentioned in hpinkjet web pages. Will 
they be supported by the new inkjet drivers?


> (Bruce) also alluded to another possible strategy, where
> "the contributor grant[s] HP separate and individual copyright, while they
> keep their own copyright to the modification as well.  That means that
> either party can do what they want with the code."  I can look into this if
> people think it's better, but it may take more time to set up and consult
> with the lawyers.
>

That might be more acceptable to independant contributors (if any), but each 
would have his own opinion. Since only a few people have contributed to the 
project so far, the IP 'transfer' plan may not even need to be applied for 
lack (or need) of independant contributions. If so, it would make the 
ownership issue less relevant, as long as the code remains GPL'd.


> So to summarize what I currently have in mind:
>
> The new changes will be released under the GPL (as is the case with the
> existing hpoj code), but with an HP copyright.  The leveraged MLC/1284.4
> portion of ptal-mlcd has to have the HP copyright because I developed it on
> company time for actual products.  The remainder of my changes for the hpoj
> project need to have the HP copyright because I'm now operating on behalf
> of HP, rather than myself, as I was when I first joined this project.  I
> haven't yet decided whether to retroactively change my existing copyrights
> to HP or just apply it to new changes.
>
> For everything in the hpoj codebase other than the leveraged MLC/1284.4
> portion of ptal-mlcd, there will not be any requirement to re-assign
> copyrights or otherwise give up any IP rights.  (I apologize if I offended
> anybody by suggesting this as an option.)

I wasn't offended, just disappointed in HP after having read some of their 
public statements supporting the open source / free software community.

Perhaps in 3-5 years, Linux will become the default OS for most computing 
devices, even the desktop. Linux has nowhere to go but up, whereas windows 
can go almost nowhere but down. HP appears to have the upper hand now 
regarding its products' (lack of) compatibility with Linux, but in the not 
too distant future, HP could find itself needing support from Linux and its 
users.

-- 
Joe