Disklavier

On 12/3/05, James Fry <groups@...> wrote:
> The MarkIV control unit is a fully fledged computer running Linux, hence
> the suggestion of open-sourcing the software. I don't seeing Yamaha doing
> that, certainly not under the GPL (or similar), because it would open the
> gateway to competitors getting a free ride on user interface and media
> playback capabilities. It would also allow me, a Mark II XG owner, to

One other thing, if they were going to open source it, releasing under
a GPL-like license might actually be better for them than something
less restrictive, because it would require anyone who used it to
publish any changes they make.  They would know if any competitors
were using it, and if any of them tried to gain a competitive
advantage by improving their software, they would be required to
release the source code of their changes, so the playing field would
immediately be leveled.  Anybody trying to sell a modified version of
their software would not be able to profit from it.  I see your
argument that they might be able to leverage it to their advantage in
other ways, but as I said earlier the main obstacle for competitors is
not software but hardware.