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<html><head><title>NDA</title><LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="webcam.css" TYPE="text/css"></head><body><center><h1>Where's the source (of PWCX)?</h1></center><p>This page has been largely made defunct with the introduction of thewebcam driver as source into the Linux kernel, back in April. However, thereis still one binary-only component, the pwcx module.</p><p>Originally, the complete pwc module was released in binary only form,because of an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) that I signed with Philips B.V.That was, at that time, the only option to get information from them so Icould make a driver (and I must say they have been quite cooperative, andstill are). They wanted to protect their effort and the many hours of workthat went into the development of these USB cameras, and simply don't wantto tell the rest of the world how they did that exactly, and I agree.</p><p>Of course, binary only modules have their specific set of problems:non-portability, version mismatch, hard to debug. So I've always been activefor getting an open source driver, and after a while, when it becameappearant this project was quite succesful we decided to loosen up the NDA abit. The current source form contains all the code that is needed to controlthe camera, get images flowing, etc. The part they still wanted to protectis the decompression scheme, and that's why it is still in binary only form,as the pwcx module. However it's a large step forward and even without thismodule you have a working driver, be it with some limitation due tothe compression.</p><p>You may still wonder however: "Doesn't this violate the GPL or theopen source spirit of Linux?" The answer: no. Linus, the creator of theLinux kernel, specifically made an exception for binary modules for theLinux kernel. Basically, you can write & distribute modules as long asthey don't require changes to the stock kernel. Of course I'm also activelydeveloping and helping with Linux USB support, so some of my efforts rub offinto the main kernel.<p><a href="index.html">Back to the main page</a></body></html>⌨️ 快捷键说明
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