Why Drawing Tablet Brands Won’t Collaborate on Linux FLOSS Drivers

为什么绘图板品牌不愿在 Linux 开源驱动上进行合作

As you probably already know, I regularly get in contact with drawing tablet brands for reviews on my Youtube channel. I usually agree to do detailed video test of their models (see my hardware tag) but only at two condition: test the tablet on GNU/Linux, and only use Free/Libre and Open Source software for the test, including drivers. I do that especially for the models I find interesting, but I also do that to report all the specifications of the hardware I receive to Peter Hutterer and Benjamin Tissoire at Red Hat. This way, they can transform the specs I can dump from the tablet into a Free/Libre and Open Source high quality driver for GNU/Linux, thanks to their udev-hid-bpf project.

正如大家所知，我经常联系绘图板品牌，以便在我的 YouTube 频道上进行评测。我通常会同意对他们的型号进行详细的视频测试（见我的硬件标签），但前提有两个：必须在 GNU/Linux 上测试，并且测试过程中仅使用自由/开源软件（包括驱动程序）。我这样做不仅是为了测试我感兴趣的型号，也是为了将我收到的硬件规格报告给 Red Hat 的 Peter Hutterer 和 Benjamin Tissoire。这样，他们就可以利用 udev-hid-bpf 项目，将我从绘图板中提取的规格转化为高质量的 GNU/Linux 自由/开源驱动程序。

But my last video review was one year ago. In fact, after finding it exhausting to go through all this process (dumping specs, testing the driver, testing and get an opinion of the drawing tablet, making the video review, writing the technical blog post), I decided to set up a new strategy. The new strategy: direct collaboration with brands. The ultimate shortcut! Get tablet brands to collaborate directly for GNU/Linux in general and share their spec with the hid/input teams. Something like what Wacom has been doing for decades. For that, I sent many emails, because with brands like XpPen, Gaomon, Huion, I’m not in contact with the technical department, but with the marketing department. Usually, after a few emails, I get a “we’ll discuss that internally and get back to you if we’re interested” type of answer and nothing. So, I usually kept pushing and insisting.

但我上一次视频评测已是一年前的事了。事实上，在经历了这一整套流程（提取规格、测试驱动、测试并评估绘图板、制作视频评测、撰写技术博客）后，我感到精疲力竭，于是决定采取一种新策略。新策略是：与品牌直接合作。这是终极捷径！让绘图板品牌直接为 GNU/Linux 进行合作，并与 hid/input 团队分享他们的规格。就像 Wacom 几十年来所做的那样。为此，我发了许多邮件，因为对于 XpPen、Gaomon、Huion 等品牌，我联系的通常是市场部而非技术部。通常在几封邮件往来后，我会得到“我们会内部讨论，如果有兴趣会再联系你”之类的回复，然后就石沉大海了。所以我通常会不断跟进和坚持。

Making contact with the right people. But more recently, during a discussion with Gaomon, things became more promising: they actually connected me with someone technical. Someone working at “Shenzhen Huion Trend Technology Co.,Ltd.”. Huion? Hehe, not really surprising: I had long observed in my reviews that the proprietary drivers of Gaomon, XpPen, Huion and Ugee all had a similar structure in their Debian packages and were using the same tools. Now I know what brand is in charge. So, I really felt with this technical contact I was finally reaching the right person, and not only that, but someone who could be in charge of managing the drivers for four brands! I quickly sent them all the specifications, links, and method and invited them to contact Peter Hutterer and Benjamin Tissoire. After that, I was genuinely excited and proud of myself: things were moving in the right direction, and all this volunteer work of emails was about to be fruitful.

联系到对的人。但最近，在与 Gaomon 的讨论中，事情有了转机：他们确实把我引荐给了一位技术人员。此人就职于“深圳市绘王趋势科技股份有限公司”。绘王（Huion）？呵呵，这并不令人惊讶：我在评测中早就观察到，Gaomon、XpPen、Huion 和 Ugee 的专有驱动程序在 Debian 包中具有相似的结构，并且使用相同的工具。现在我知道是哪个品牌在主导了。因此，我真的觉得通过这位技术联系人，我终于找到了对的人，而且不仅如此，他还是能负责管理这四个品牌驱动程序的人！我迅速将所有规格、链接和方法发送给他们，并邀请他们联系 Peter Hutterer 和 Benjamin Tissoire。在那之后，我感到非常兴奋和自豪：事情正朝着正确的方向发展，所有这些志愿邮件工作即将结出硕果。

The answer: a polite rejection. Unfortunately, this morning I received a conclusion that contradicted my expectations. It’s the marketing department at Gaomon who contacted me. Here’s the relevant excerpt: “I need to apologize, as I spoke with our technical team again today, and we have decided not to move forward with the Linux driver project at this time. We carefully reviewed the project you shared with us (https://github.com/linuxwacom/wacom-hid-descriptors). While we appreciate the initiative, we found that this is primarily a Wacom-led project, and the potential impact for GAOMON would be quite limited. Even if we added support for our devices, the system would still show the device as a GAOMON model, but the overall setup would display Wacom branding. More importantly, participating would require sharing our device specifications directly with Wacom – which is not something we can consider.”

回复：礼貌的拒绝。不幸的是，今天早上我收到的结论与我的预期背道而驰。联系我的是 Gaomon 的市场部。以下是相关摘录：“我需要道歉，因为我今天再次与我们的技术团队进行了沟通，我们决定目前不推进 Linux 驱动程序项目。我们仔细审查了您分享给我们的项目 (https://github.com/linuxwacom/wacom-hid-descriptors)。虽然我们感谢这一倡议，但我们发现这主要是 Wacom 主导的项目，对 GAOMON 的潜在影响非常有限。即使我们增加了对我们设备的支持，系统仍会将设备显示为 GAOMON 型号，但整体设置会显示 Wacom 的品牌标识。更重要的是，参与该项目需要直接与 Wacom 分享我们的设备规格——这是我们无法考虑的。”

Alright. The real problem: Wacom branding in open-source infrastructure. Now you’re probably wondering why Wacom is mentioned here. Well, because it’s true: many of the repositories are named after “Wacom”. It’s a historical legacy on GNU/Linux. It’s also a decade-long debate that these repos should be renamed differently. For example, a repository like Libwacom contains Dell, Gaomon, HP, Huion, XpPen and more (src: https://github.com/linuxwacom/libwacom/tree/master/data), same for wacom-hid-descriptors (src: https://github.com/linuxwacom/wacom-hid-descriptors), and it’s the same in many other places deep in the GNU/Linux drawing tablet driver infrastructure. So, it’s not surprising that after a careful study, my technical contact (representing many brands) decided against opening their specifications. Especially if the open-source infrastructure is branded after the industry’s largest competitor. I understand their move.

好吧。真正的问题：开源基础设施中的 Wacom 品牌标识。现在你可能想知道为什么这里提到了 Wacom。嗯，因为这是事实：许多存储库都以“Wacom”命名。这是 GNU/Linux 上的历史遗留问题。关于这些存储库应该改名，已经争论了十年。例如，像 Libwacom 这样的存储库包含了 Dell、Gaomon、HP、Huion、XpPen 等品牌（来源：https://github.com/linuxwacom/libwacom/tree/master/data），wacom-hid-descriptors 也是如此（来源：https://github.com/linuxwacom/wacom-hid-descriptors），在 GNU/Linux 绘图板驱动基础设施的其他许多地方也是一样。因此，在仔细研究后，我的技术联系人（代表多个品牌）决定不公开他们的规格，这并不令人惊讶。特别是如果开源基础设施是以行业内最大的竞争对手命名的。我理解他们的做法。

Addendum: I received a comment telling me that I skipped the part of their email where they said they worry they would share their device specifications directly with Wacom. This is true, but I ignored this sentence because obtaining their device specifications is straightforward: you just need a Linux operating system and the hid-recorder utilities to do so. You can see me doing it in a video in the first post of this thread. Therefore, if an artist can do it, so can all their competitors.

附注：我收到一条评论，指出我忽略了他们邮件中提到担心直接与 Wacom 分享设备规格的部分。这确实是真的，但我忽略了这句话，因为获取他们的设备规格非常简单：你只需要一个 Linux 操作系统和 hid-recorder 工具即可。你可以在本帖第一篇视频中看到我的操作。因此，如果一个艺术家能做到，他们的所有竞争对手也能做到。

What this means for linux tablet support. So I’m sad, what a wasted opportunity and time because of some bad design decision. I’m writing this so that perhaps some executives somewhere will become concerned by this situation and fund full-time developers in charge of these repositories. Because you just can’t build a solid collaborative environment within infrastructure branded after the industry’s largest competitor.

这对 Linux 绘图板支持意味着什么。所以我很难过，因为一些糟糕的设计决策，浪费了机会和时间。我写这篇文章是希望某些地方的高管能关注这种情况，并资助全职开发人员来负责这些存储库。因为你无法在一个以行业最大竞争对手命名的基础设施内，建立一个稳固的协作环境。

Moving forward: one tablet at a time. As for me, I’ll return to my previous method: reviewing tablets and documenting their specifications, one by one. Unfortunately, I’m not skilled enough to code C drivers like this one and I’m not fully independent on this quest. My process require each time the availability of Peter and Benjamin. If the Huion H610x, the XpPen Deco 01V3, the Kamvas Pro 19, the XpPen Artist Pro 16 and 19 (and more) are compatible, it’s thanks to their efforts. I know that this process will stop the day I can’t get a Free/Libre and Open-Source driver in time for making the video review, and I’ll have to use the proprietary driver of the brand to finish the thing.

未来：一次测试一块绘图板。至于我，我将回到以前的方法：逐一评测绘图板并记录它们的规格。不幸的是，我没有足够的技能去编写像这样的 C 语言驱动程序，而且我在这个任务上并不完全独立。我的流程每次都需要 Peter 和 Benjamin 的协助。如果 Huion H610x、XpPen Deco 01V3、Kamvas Pro 19、XpPen Artist Pro 16 和 19（以及更多）能够兼容，那都要归功于他们的努力。我知道，如果有一天我无法在制作视频评测前及时获得自由/开源驱动程序，而不得不使用品牌的专有驱动程序来完成工作，这个流程就会停止。