@ 16/06/2004 14:31 : wrote Joe Wreschnig :
On Wed, 2004-06-16 at 09:41, Matthew Wilcox wrote: > On Tue, Jun 15, 2004 at 09:01:52PM -0500, Joe Wreschnig wrote: > >> At best that solves a third of the problem. > > It solves the problem at hand -- that Debian has no permission to > distribute the file. You can now go back to wanking about firmware > all you like. I shan't bother with that. Debian now has permission to distribute the firmware. But in the process, it has lost permission to distribute other parts of the kernel.
No, no, and no.Firmware with _any_ distributable license + kernel (GPL) = distributable even if non-free. Firmware and Kernel are agregating only, not derived works. They don't link together; firmware is not a derived work of the kernel nor /vice-versa/.
I'm not sure how simply I can put this: - This is not wanking. - This is not related to the DFSG or SC at all. - This is an accusation of copyright infringement by a party whose software Debian distributes, and should be treated seriously.
This is ok.
It also does not solve the problem in the way the release manager said it needs to be: http://lists.debian.org/debian-kernel/2004/06/msg00064.html This solution is legally and technically unacceptable. Whether I believe it violates the SC is not relevant.
It violates the SC (if it goes in a "main" section kernel, as opposed to a "non-free" kernel) and this *is* relevant, to the project. Any kernel with said firmware image must go in non-free. As an option, the firmware can go in its own package (in non-free), independently of the means used to load the firmware. But it really should be removed from Debian kernel-source. Because of the SC, not because of any other consideration.
-- br,M