Not that long ago Linux barely had two drivers to rub together.

Now it claims to support “more hardware devices than any other operating system in the history of the world” and, figuring it’s time to push IHVs to open their code, 150 Linux kernel developers, including Alan Cox, signed a “Position Statement” decrying the use of any closed source kernel module or drivers in Linux.

They say they’re “harmful and undesirable” and “detrimental to Linux users, businesses and the greater Linux ecosystem.” They say proprietary drivers are obsolete and non-optimal interfaces that tend to be buggy and make the OS less reliable and secure, even crashing it.

Linus Torvalds, the head kernel developer, did not sign the statement though it was circulated by his employer, the Linux Foundation.