Intel is about the best friend "we" have

...and by "we", I mean the nix community and in particular the GNU/Linux community.
...and by "friend", I'm talking about for profit corporations related to software/hardware.

Ofourse, there are also GNU/Linux based companies, like Redhat, Canonical, SUSE, System76, Tuxedo etc etc, who are even better friends. But looking at other companies it seems that Intel is our best friend.

Just an example could be a Linux problem area like graphics. The least problematic and most open in this area is Intel.

But the main reason I call Intel friendly is that they are one of the main contributors to the Kernel. Google you say, ok, fair enough, but Google gains far more than it contributes, it actually uses and abuses Linux and open software and is probably not compliant to licences (Android, ChromeOS). Google is very big on locking down people and their products and those who say Android is "open source" is just full of bullshit. Don't even say Android is open in any way, i'll just respond "BULLSHIT!". ChromeOS seems to be derived from Gentoo, but has been slapped with a proprietary licence, probably not in compliance with the licences to use those Gentoo components.

Intel on the other hand, from what I know, they don't even use Linux or GNU/Linux on a large scale. That's not part of their main business unlike some others, yet they contribute alot. Meaning it seems like they contribute without even wanting something in return. So, if you want to look at corporate contributions to the Linux kernel (and other related things), you have to take into account "contribution vs use (and abuse)", and I'm no expert, but from what I can see and understand, Intel is probably the highest scoring corporation if we look at things like that. It's almost like you can think it is out of pure kindness. People will undoubtedly mention IBM too, and although I don't think they are very abusive, I do think they benefit alot from Linux, and use it quite alot.

I don't know enough about the details of "HD Audio", but people will probably counter argue and say that Intel has not done well in regards to Wireless. True, but they are also not among the worst, and they did produce the drivers, but some others are better in terms of openness and wireless. But we do have working Intel wireless out of the box, pretty trouble free, although there are things to be desired in terms of full open source compliant wireless.

Anyways, I'm looking more at the overall picture and in particular contribute vs use as a factor. Intel might use Linux and free software more than I know, but from how things seem they don't use it or need it very much. And this in itself is good enough reason to look at Intel in a somewhat positive light.

I'm not going to say that Intel is a Champion of Open Source and Free Software, but I do believe they are the best friend that we have, and I just wanted to mention that. There is alot of negative talk about Intel the last years (not related to Linux), and I can understand some of the reasons. But from our perspective, I think Intel also deserve some praise and embrace. I'm not saying you should run out and buy Intel stuff, but please do take into consideration these things the next time you buy some hardware. We do have a chance to give something back to those we feel deserve it.