| |||||||||||||
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core"FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core"Posted Nov 8, 2010 23:43 UTC (Mon) by BenHutchings (subscriber, #37955)In reply to: FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" by jebba Parent article: FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core"
Nope, there are still a few blobs outside of firmware.
But this whole argument by the linux-libre folks is nonsense. Devices are no more free if they load their proprietary code from flash rather than relying on the driver to copy it from the host. Further, if the driver loads the code that is likely to make it easier to reverse-engineer and replace.
(Log in to post comments)
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 9, 2010 2:43 UTC (Tue) by jebba (✭ supporter ✭, #4439) [Link]
I didn't see him arguing that.
Do you think it's good that the Linus tarball is full of things like:
"Licence: Unknown
There's a pile of that, for starters... What about all the other odd ball licenses that are floating around in there? Should they remain?
Ignoring the "open core" bit Posted Nov 9, 2010 11:15 UTC (Tue) by pboddie (subscriber, #50784) [Link]
Agreed, the "open core" rhetoric is misplaced, but the actual point of the message remains. If anyone were to submit stuff for inclusion in Debian or Fedora with "licence unknown", they'd be told to go and fix it.
Ignoring the "open core" bit Posted Nov 9, 2010 16:01 UTC (Tue) by BenHutchings (subscriber, #37955) [Link]
Yes, that's exactly why Debian doesn't include those.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 9, 2010 9:35 UTC (Tue) by job (guest, #670) [Link]
They may well be. Please read my comment above.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 9, 2010 10:26 UTC (Tue) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link]
That is not clear. The laws governing hardware and software are very different, but in general laws about software are more restrictive that laws about hardware. It is much easier to sell a firmware with a very restrictive license (that e.g. prevent it being resold) than a piece of hardware. You can also more easily disclaim warranty on firmware than on hardware.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 9, 2010 16:02 UTC (Tue) by BenHutchings (subscriber, #37955) [Link]
A somewhat outdated summary of those blobs can be found at http://wiki.debian.org/KernelFirmwareLicensing
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 9, 2010 17:57 UTC (Tue) by jebba (✭ supporter ✭, #4439) [Link]
This is probably the most recent:
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-...
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 11, 2010 19:29 UTC (Thu) by BenHutchings (subscriber, #37955) [Link] That's for the blobs in the firmware directory; I was pointing out the blobs outside it.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 11, 2010 21:16 UTC (Thu) by jebba (✭ supporter ✭, #4439) [Link] Ah, interesting. I wonder why things like this didn't get moved to thefirmware/ directory. From:linux-2.6/drivers/net/appletalk/cops_ffdrv.h
/* * The firmware this driver downloads into the Localtalk card is a * separate program and is not GPL'd source code, even though the Linux * side driver and the routine that loads this data into the card are. * * It is taken from the COPS SDK and is under the following license * * This material is licensed to you strictly for use in conjunction with * the use of COPS LocalTalk adapters.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 13, 2010 1:30 UTC (Sat) by dwmw2 (subscriber, #2063) [Link]
That particular example didn't get moved just because we didn't notice it.
AFAICT the only person doing regular sweeps of the kernel to check for such things is Alexandre, and he's completely jumped the shark so most people who are actually doing useful work on this stuff have started ignoring him.
S'probably worth going through the current deblob script and working out if there are more examples like the one you provided above; thanks for that.
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 15, 2010 19:29 UTC (Mon) by wookey (subscriber, #5501) [Link]
What does 'jumped the shark' mean?
FSFLA: Linux kernel is "open core" Posted Nov 18, 2010 10:33 UTC (Thu) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link] From Wikipedia: Jumping the shark is an idiom used to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot spins off into absurd storylines or unlikely characterizations. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline. (The above text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike licence.) While I do find some of the FSFLA's publicity material surrounding Linux-libre to be of dubious quality and appropriateness, I am less than convinced that "jumping the shark" is applicable here.
|
|||||||||||||