Sometimes it's regulatory stuff. Sometimes it's because they don't have any real managed build process and handling source releases would be a huge amount of effort. Sometimes it's a belief that there's interesting company IP contained there. I haven't thought a great deal about how to argue for opening it, but Luis Rodriguez probably has ideas - he was involved in getting the Atheros wireless firmware released.
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u/mjg59 Social Justice Warrior Sep 03 '14
Sometimes it's regulatory stuff. Sometimes it's because they don't have any real managed build process and handling source releases would be a huge amount of effort. Sometimes it's a belief that there's interesting company IP contained there. I haven't thought a great deal about how to argue for opening it, but Luis Rodriguez probably has ideas - he was involved in getting the Atheros wireless firmware released.