Pen Tablet Makers Refuse Linux Driver Cooperation Citing Wacom Name
The naming of the open-source Linux driver project after the dominant competitor, Wacom, prevents other pen tablet manufacturers from sharing specifications, even though the project is multi-vendor.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
Illustrator David Revoy asked XPPen, Gaomon, and Huion to cooperate with open-source Linux driver development. Gaomon's marketing department refused, stating the project appeared led by Wacom and that sharing specifications with a competitor was unacceptable. The open-source project's name, libwacom, includes the dominant brand, creating a psychological barrier for other manufacturers.
David Revoy had been testing pen tablets on Linux and passing specification information to Red Hat developers for the udev-hid-bpf project. The workload of researching, extracting specs, testing, and creating content led him to ask manufacturers directly for cooperation. Gaomon's marketing department eventually refused, saying the project appeared to be led by Wacom and that adding Gaomon products would display the Wacom brand name. The open-source project's name, libwacom, historically includes 'Wacom' even though it now contains data from multiple brands. This naming creates a psychological barrier for competitors.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.