On Tue, 19 Feb 2019 21:27:39 -0800 David Christensen <dpchr...@holgerdanske.com> wrote:
> On 2/19/19 7:21 PM, Celejar wrote: > > On Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:48:23 -0800 > > David Christensen <dpchr...@holgerdanske.com> wrote: > >> AFAIK there are no commercial off the shelf (COTS) USB-SATA docks with > >> FOSS hardware (device), firmware (device), or software (device or host). > >> (If somebody knows of any examples, please post the URL's.) > > > > I'm still not sure what you're saying - there certainly are COTS > > devices fully supported by FOSS software. E.g., I have a Syba > > SY-ENC50091: > > > > https://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=885 > > > > It works fine under Debian without needing any non-free stuff, as far > > as I recall. > > The Syba USB-SATA dock works with Debian because the HDD manufacturer, > Syba, the USB cable manufacturer, the computer manufacturer, and Debian > have implemented everything needed for an end-to-end connection from the > HDD firmware kernel to the Debian Linux kernel. Standards facilitated > that result. Exactly. So what do you mean when you say that "there are no commercial off the shelf (COTS) USB-SATA docks with FOSS hardware (device), firmware (device), or software (device or host)"? > > If you're objecting to the hardware not being FOSS, my understanding > > is that most useful hardware isn't. Is the SATA hardware itself FOSS? > > I agree that, historically, hardware has often been closed-source. But, > similar to software, there are open-source hardware projects: > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware Of course. But unlike with software, they are relatively few and minor, and a normal user can't hope to go FOSS hardware as he can with software Celejar
