I agree for most end users they don't care. Just like how most people don't care about trying to buy American vs Chinese.
The problem always lies in the very dedicated open source authors like osmocom, the original DSD author, Max, and an endless list of others. I totally understand how disgusted they get when someone takes what they have openly shared for the greater good and then creates in violation of the GPL a closed source fork... and what's even more despicable is when they do that and monetize off it.
Conservancy Announces New Strategy for GPL Enforcement and Related Work, Receives Grant from ARDC
Software Freedom Conservancy, the only organization actively engaged in General Public License (GPL) enforcement and compliance work for Linux, announces today a new strategy toward improving compliance and the freedom of users of devices that contain Linux-based systems. The new work has...sfconservancy.org
An interesting thing about SDR# and their gripe is that Zadig is needed (last I knew) to install drivers for your RTL based devices.
And that is covered under GNU gpl. They (#) don't see it fit to provide a driver pack in their software for the numerous radio's out there.
It's right here and I quote:
"The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and change the works. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free software for all its users. We, the Free Software Foundation, use the GNU General Public License for most of our software; it applies also to any other work released this way by its authors. You can apply it to your programs, too."
This means that if you want to you could bend and mold Zadig into your own fork for a particular task at hand.
The guy who wrote Sharper got his hand cut off real fast apparently because what he did while knuckles were dragging with #, he tackled the job brilliantly.
Then comes the piece of software for # that allows you to actually use YOUR OWN EXTIO in it.
Brilliant I say. I'm now able to happily use my Icom IC-R8600 with # where I was limited to version 1361 for years.
And possibly my SDRPlay RSP2. Although I haven't gotten that far yet.
Airspy wants you to buy and use RTL based radios with their software. Hopefully an Airspy device.
Good thing for them. Especially when you have to buy a crap load of stuff to use the HF, etc. bands not covered by them out of box.
My defense. Although I didn't use # for a long time, now I can happily with my newest toy (and let's see how the RSP2 works) with the latest greatest sharp version.
Hell. I wouldn't be above throwing a few bucks to devs. that extend their talents to provide enhancements.
Then here we come with DSD+ and other like applications. You download and try DSD+. You hear about Fastlane. You have DSD+ running. But the paid version Must be better. Right? Unless you read way into the fine print (and is surprisng as hell)...with some of the better SDR radios out there it wont, cant, control your radio for trunking and all of that stuff. It should, you would think. At least the RSPx units are supported. CAT control would be awesome or a simple way to use an EXTIO driver (aka: Zadig-like) installer. Like in their notes.txt a provision to use your CAT command rig control lookup table and punch in your own codes for your radio and such.
I just don't have the want to hoist fifteen antennas to be able to use the different softwares and radios out there. Nor want to swap cables and addons line upconverters, LNA's and all of that crap. I'd write code and be receptive of bugs and to-do's for users all day long if I were able to.
Done with my rant.
