> The reality is the manufacturers still have the mentality that once something is sold their responsibility ends.
Not my experience. I have three hardware devices that worked on Windows, Linux and FreeBSD 5-10 years ago, and now only work on Windows and FreeBSD. (Amusingly enough one of them is a windows CE device)
Isn't that another example of manufacturers not supporting their hardware? Are the windows/FreeBSD drivers still maintained or do they just still work?
Not my experience. I have three hardware devices that worked on Windows, Linux and FreeBSD 5-10 years ago, and now only work on Windows and FreeBSD. (Amusingly enough one of them is a windows CE device)