chrisjrob: garmin https://chrisjrob.com GNU Linux, Perl and FLOSS en-gb Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:22:31 +0000 Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:22:31 +0000 Linux Drivers For Linux Devices https://chrisjrob.com/2011/02/23/linux-drivers-for-linux-devices/ Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 chrisjrob@gmail.com (Chris Roberts) https://chrisjrob.com/2011/02/23/linux-drivers-for-linux-devices Nothing annoys me more than this - companies that use the Linux operating system for their devices, but who don’t provide a driver for Linux clients to access the same devices.  For example Garmin, Tom Tom and Road Angel to name but three that have effected me personally.  I know that the counter argument is that we want Linux to be used by these companies, and I appreciate that they may well be  contributing in other ways, but this still upsets me.

My gripe is this - that these companies are taking the produce of the work done by Linux developers to make new products and thus generate profits, and then not allowing those same Linux developers to access those newly developed devices.  Worse, some of these companies are now starting to support Apple Mac OS/X, but not bothering to support Linux, the very operating system that gave birth to their product.

And the daft thing is that in many cases they don’t even need to do the work themselves.

]]>