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Re: openal future

by Matias D'Ambrosio :: Rate this Message:

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On Monday 04 May 2009 12:20:35 Jason Daly wrote:

>
> What's really interesting to me is how the driver has been received by
> the open source community.  After all of the whining and complaining
> that the open source driver community has done in the past about binary
> blob drivers, Creative has finally released a fully open source driver
> for the X-Fi (maybe it's not feature-complete, but the source is all
> there for people to hack on, and data sheets have been released to the
> community as well).  This happened in November, so it's been six months.
>
> I find it really confusing that the driver still hasn't made it into the
> ALSA project (not even a whisper about it on the lists).  Even if it's
> not ready for the newer hardware, it could at least be put into the
> repository.  I've also heard that the OSS driver is not functioning that
> well for many people, and this driver came out even earlier.  After all
> of the complaints and assurances that if the driver were open-sourced,
> it would be better, it seems to be going nowhere.
 I found this link (in a very non-obvious way):

http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=10792

There is an EULA that must be accepted to download that says:

6. No Merger or Integration
You may not merge any portion of the Software into, or integrate any portion
of the Software with, any other program, except to the extent expressly
permitted by the laws of the jurisdiction where you are located. Any portion
of the Software merged into or integrated with another program, if any, will
continue to be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and you
must reproduce on the merged or integrated portion all copyright and other
proprietary rights notices included on the originals of the Software.

9. Limitations on Using, Copying, and Modifying the Software
Except to the extent expressly permitted by this Agreement or by the laws of
the jurisdiction where you acquired the Software, you may not use, copy or
modify the Software. Nor may you sub-license any of your rights under this
Agreement. You may use the Software for your personal use only, and not for
public performance or for the creation of publicly displayed videotapes.

10. Decompiling, Disassembling, or Reverse Engineering
You acknowledge that the Software contains trade secrets and other proprietary
information of Creative and its licensors. Except to the extent expressly
permitted by this Agreement or by the laws of the jurisdiction where you are
located, you may not decompile, disassemble or otherwise reverse engineer the
Software, or engage in any other activities to obtain underlying information
that is not visible to the user in connection with normal use of the
Software.

In particular, you agree not for any purpose to transmit the Software or
display the Software's object code on any computer screen or to make any
hardcopy memory dumps of the Software's object code. If you believe you
require information related to the interoperability of the Software with
other programs, you shall not decompile or disassemble the Software to obtain
such information, and you agree to request such information from Creative at
the address listed below. Upon receiving such a request, Creative shall
determine whether you require such information for a legitimate purpose and,
if so, Creative will provide such information to you within a reasonable time
and on reasonable conditions.

In any event, you will notify Creative of any information derived from reverse
engineering or such other activities, and the results thereof will constitute
the confidential information of Creative that may be used only in connection
with the Software.



 Is that the fully open source driver? The announcement mentions 1.18 but I
only found the 1.00 version for download, and with a non-OSS EULA. I haven't
seen the datasheets but I haven't looked too hard either, I admit; Creative's
websites' are awkward to use (including the openal section).
 Even the announcement promises less than even the most basic onboard
soundcard, so it's no surprise that X-fi cards are in the category "avoid
like the plague" in the OSS world (which consists of more than Linux).
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