The goal is to always upstream every driver (and we do a pretty good job at that). Depending on the lineage of the software (who developed it, what they developed it for) - it may not be possible to meet the kernel coding guidelines - so we don't send those upstream.
All the Linux kernel drivers found on https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/linux or upstreamed at kernel.org are released under the standard Linux kernel license - GPL 2.0. There is no "only for ADI devices" possible - doing so would be a violation of section 6 of the GPL 2 ("You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.")
Yes - ADI would encourage anyone to buy their devices - but no - we don't force it - There are many things that are "ADI devices only", but that's normally userspace or HDL or tools, not kernel.
I see how you read that completely differently than how I meant it. I apologize, and thank you for pointing that out.
I meant to convey that creating a free software tool specifically to support a hardware catalog has precedent, makes business sense, and is useful to customers. Not everything has to conform to the FOSS die-hard ethos to upstream everything.
