Re: Vendor support is one thing...
"high performing closed sourced driver with a tainted kernel"
Yeah, about that...
The easiest "tainted kernel" workaround is a wrapper that's open source [so you can re-compile the kernel with a different config, and then re-compile the driver with the driver source, as needed, to get a driver that works with a different kernel config] while simultaneously using a BLOB to store the actual guts of the driver, _PARTICULARLY_ in the case of 802.11 drivers that might need to be CLOSED SOURCE due to FCC requirements [which is the case for Broadcom - I've worked with their NDA code in the past].
Seriously, the Linux community at large needs to accept the use of BLOBs in some cases, as long as it makes it possible for the drivers to be built for different kernel configs [the purpose of having open source kernel drivers]. It's not ideal, but it works.
And maybe more hardware vendors and DRM advocates would be willing to supply BLOB drivers (with open source wrappers) for their hardware (etc.) as long as it gives them the I.P. or legal protection that they want, instead of going "Micros~1 only". Yeah.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
