I'd like to apologize to the folks on the list for the flame war that was started in this thread, intentionally, it seems. This _will_ be the last message on this topic. Anyone else with questions or comments for Dean should send them directly to him.
I would like to address this to everyone who buys a cable with a counterfeit Prolific USB-to-serial converter chip:
Dean, this is not the forum for such things. It's not the forum for "addressing" a captive audience to rant about injustices committed by folks outside this community. It's not the forum for scolding or deriding the folks here for purchases they've made, almost always in good faith.
As a person who has contributed code to the Chirp project
With all due respect, your contributions (which have been much appreciated) here and elsewhere have not earned you the right to "address" this community as if it were your congregation, and certainly not to speak to its members with such disrespect.
Cable and driver issues, as they relate to the use of CHIRP are peripherally on-topic. Extensive (and repeated) discussions of manufacturer-specific issues are not. Political and religious opinions do not belong here, regardless of the justification.
For years, this list has been a place for intelligent and civil discussion of just one topic. I'm sorry to say that for the second time this month, I'm going to have to spend time manually moderating the traffic instead of working on CHIRP itself.