No they are not, they are a combination of hardware and software
But we *have* open software to run on those. That just leaves the hardware that you could be talking about.
Yes, like the Linux kernel. But there isnt much you can do with just that.
Well, and the entire rest of the OS, if you don't count some of the drivers and firmware (which require either reverse engineering or published hardware specs from the manufacturers to implement openly).
But where is the free software (let's exclude the hardware component for a minute) version of these products?
Well, again, aside from BIOS/firmware and some drivers if I want all my hardware's features to work, it's here. We don't just have a kernel, we have full general-purpose OSes.
My point is that the idea that everybody should ditch closed source and proprietary software in favor of FOSS is misguided because FOSS doesn't have all the answers.
...And if the closed/proprietary software were to be open, then FOSS *would* have all the answers. As far as I can tell, that's the end goal of "the movement".
Sorry I mean restrictive open source (GPL) as opposed to permissive open source (BSD, et. al).
So did I. I see GPL-like licenses as being more protective than restrictive. They protect my access to code derived from the projects that are licensed that way. It's just a matter of perspective. I don't *want* to take someone else's open source code and make a closed-source derivative product. Until we have non-eternal copyright terms, I wouldn't really want to see someone *else* doing that either.
Proprietary and Free software work together to produce innovative products but there are a lot of absolutists with very limited vision that seem to think FOSS is the answer to everything.
I can see the benefit of a system where proprietary software is closed for a period of time, in order to encourage development of new technology, and then made open to enrich the public as a whole. I don't see that happening, so out of practicality, I'll accept closed/proprietary software and hardware as a stopgap. It does the job right now, and I'll just buy the next-available closed system when my current one doesn't have the functionality that I need.
Fact is restrictive open source isnt producing innovation
I've never felt restricted by open-source software. The problem has always been closed systems, for me. Although, I suppose that the licensing issues go to the back of your mind anyhow when you've got a system that won't do what you want, and there is no way for you or anyone else but the vendor to fix it.
And if you send a repo man out to the slums, all you're going to get back is a repo man corpse.
In even a halfway-civilized country? Bad parts of town are where they're likely to get more work, anyhow. They're used to it.
"If I do not want others to quote me, I do not speak." -- Phil Wayne