> It says it "employs a Linux-based operating system", I > wonder if that means the code itself will be made available > somewhere. It's probably an embedded variant with a lot of non-GPL'd software. But you'd expect that they must have made some changes to GPL'd code, in which case they should offer source code to anyone who buys the unit - since no-one else will have the binaries. I often get the impression that some embedded system vendors are testing the limits of the GPL though... > The $4K pricetag is a bit high I think that depends on the quality of the unit; I expect pro quality video equipment usually costs that much. Of course because we know it's really a Linux box, it looks expensive to us - but then Pioneer have done all the R&D and put together a complete system which they will support. On that basis, it could be a bargain for a busy video production firm. > In the studio I work in, we do DVD-A authoring under another OS > with a standard $300 4x Pioneer DVD-R/RW and have done up to 8 > channels of 24/96 using something called Meridian Lossless Packing > (http://www.ambisonic.net/mlp.html). As much as I respect Meridian for their audio work, MLP is a real problem for free software. It's totally proprietary and it needs support in hardware players. So if it becomes the standard for digital audio, you might not be able to make finished musical projects on a free software system. Cheers Daniel