The kernel and binary firmware [LWN.net]

The kernel and binary firmware

Posted Apr 7, 2005 15:44 UTC (Thu) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523)
In reply to: The kernel and binary firmware by bfields
Parent article: The kernel and binary firmware

I don't think the statement you quote quite match the fact:
> It is obvious in this context that the non-free firmware constitute a mere aggregation and not an act of linking with the rest of the kernel. This is at least the consensus that debian has reached with input from the debian-legal lists, and what we will stand by this.

First Sven has no autority to speak as "Debian", and secondly is unclear whether the debian-legal has reached such a consensus.

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The kernel and binary firmware

Posted Apr 7, 2005 16:25 UTC (Thu) by bfields (subscriber, #19510) [Link]

First Sven has no autority to speak as "Debian"

OK, fair enough.

and secondly is unclear whether the debian-legal has reached such a consensus.

Hm, but that wasn't the impression I got; can you provide pointers to opposition within Debian? (Something reasonably thorough and well-reasoned, not just someone saying they don't agree, without providing a good argument.)

I still stand by my original point, though: the main new argument I saw in that email was *not* that firmware blobs would be non-distributable in some cases (that's been beaten to death before), but that they were distributable in more cases than people had previously assumed, so that moving them out of the kernel is no longer required.

Whether the argument put forth there represents a concensus within Debian I don't know.

--Bruce Fields