Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] Gibson MaGIC
From: Bob Ham (node_AT_users.sourceforge.net)
Date: Thu Jul 04 2002 - 20:14:16 EEST
On Thu, 2002-07-04 at 17:04, Nelson Posse Lago wrote:
> Suit yourself; but remember that magic will only take off if it sees wide
> adoption by the industry; do *you* want to contribute to the adoption of
> a patent-encumbered protocol while it still hasn't any market share?
I don't, no, but there appears to be no alternative. I, and many
others, want a protocol for shoving audio down UTP cables, not just
giving it to a TCP/IP stack which, iiuc, just can't give the timing
guarantees that a hardware protocol like magic can. And such a protocol
now exists. Gibson have given the world a license to use their
"patent", for now, and they've also specifically stated that they won't
interfere with a free software implementation. And why should they shut
a project down? To do so would be dumb, given that it would reduce a
product's userbase a great deal. Will they do a Unisys and sting people
for fees later, if/when the protocol has been widely adopted? I don't
know. From what I can tell though, most music equipment companies care
much more about their customers than, say Unisys, or any of the other
Big Evil Corporations that rule the software world (although I've not
really had much experience in this industry, so I expect to be corrected
:) Perhaps they care more because most of them aren't Big Evil
Corporations; taking Mackie as a prime example.
Anyway, it's a risk, I know, but it's one I'm willing to take. I just
hope Gibson don't let me down in 10 years and make me feel like I helped
them screw people over.
> Supporting the .DOC format is an evil we can't do without, but magic might
> as well be replaced by, say, RTP, and the world would be a better place.
Like I say, the thing is that magic is a hardware protocol, not just a
software one. I don't know that any RTP protocols are designed
specifically to take data over 100baseTX hardware. And it's not just an
extension of the IEEE protocols; Magic networks aren't networks in the
conventional ethernet broadcast bus sense. I like the protocol, it
Makes Sense (tm). And, it exists.
Bob
-- Bob Ham: bob_AT_ham.org http://pkl.net/~node/
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