why is this still an issue? (Score 1)

Why is this still an issue? it must be blind altruism. I've been using the binary nvidia drivers for years and perhaps that has tainted me. But the drivers work well and correctly use the hardware I have paid good money for. If there were open-source alternatives I would still not use them as I prefer drivers from the company that made my hardware... regardless of the availability of the source code. The kernel developers do an incredible job in supporting all sorts of hardware and must be given their dues. But take the AC'97 audio device, it's open-source drivers do not support hardware mixing.