OStatic

In December, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) filed suit against Cisco, after several years of urging the company to comply with the licensing terms used on its Linksys routers. Several Linksys routers used firmware licensed under the GPL/LGPL, but Cisco failed to make the source code available per the terms of the licenses.

It's not terribly easy to make the FSF resort to legal action, but after five years of relative unresponsiveness, FSF licensing compliance engineer Brett Smith said the organization had to take stronger measures to get the problem resolved.

The case against Cisco has been settled, with Cisco agreeing to appoint a Free Software Director who will ensure Linksys complies with the terms of the free licenses it uses, and report back to the FSF on its progress.

Granted, the Roku Netflix player isn't exactly a new device. The little hardware appliance (with open source roots) appeared around this time last year, and the reviews were quite favorable, with the biggest complaint cited being Netflix's relatively meager standard definition instant view selections.

My new family member -- a brand new Roku box -- shows just how much can change in a year. With the appropriate cables (and display), the Roku appliance is able to stream high definition media from Netflix and Amazon Video-On-Demand. Netflix integration still requires one has an account without a monthly limit on DVDs (that's any account that costs $8.99 or more per month). Amazon On-Demand titles can be rented, or purchased outright for unlimited viewing on the Roku device.

One of the best things about Roku's use of open source software is that unless you are genuinely interested in that aspect, you never need to know.