Re: Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Ettus Research News

[Alexandru Csete]

On 8 February 2010 13:21, Alberto Trentadue <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I assume that the objective for a GNU HW manufacturer should be "to keep 
> providing the SDR hardware at lowest
> possible prices and keep developing products" + UNDER GPL.
> I know no big company with these objectives. And I don't expect NI to be 
> different. GNU and big business are not good
> friends.
> I think it's just a matter of time. Let's make the most until then.
>
> This is *not* a blame for Ettus management of course, but please raise your 
> hand anybody being 100% sure that the GNU
> part of USRP project is not jeopardized inthe long run.

We can speculate all that we want but the only thing we can know with
100% certainty is that nobody can predict the future. Therefore, I'll
limit my contribution in this thread to pointing out that there have
also been positive cases where similar acquisitions have lead to
something very good for the community. The acquisition of Trolltech
(Qt) by Nokia comes to mind, which changed Qt from GPL/Commercial to
LGPL and opened up a much closer collaboration between developers and
the community.

I see no reason for being pessimistic based on the available evidence.

Alex