On Monday 16 October 2006 02:29, "Duncan" <1i5t5.duncan@cox.net> wrote 
about '[gentoo-amd64]  Re: Printer Setup':
> Are
> those drivers closed source (in which case no way, I prefer FLOSS
> drivers, thanks, and certainly won't be putting any of my money into
> anything without them, "Linux" non-support that closed source ultimately
> is), or open but simply not ported to amd64/x86_64 yet?

IIRC, they do have one GPL'd "driver" but I believe it's just a cups->lpd 
or lpd->cups "gateway driver"...  If you can find their linux pages, they 
do have some documentation about the licensing, but I don't believe their 
licenses pass the DSFG -- I seem to remember pulling their drivers from 
the non-free repository when I was trying to get them to work on my 
laptop.

> Of course, if they simply open the specs
> sufficiently, the community will often provide drivers without company
> effort

No doubt.  I'd prefer open specifications over open drivers anyday; it 
makes whatever driver exist much more maintainable and portable.  Usually, 
open drivers mean we can reverse-engineer a specification, but that's 
tricky at best.

-- 
"If there's one thing we've established over the years,
it's that the vast majority of our users don't have the slightest
clue what's best for them in terms of package stability."
-- Gentoo Developer Ciaran McCreesh