hoi :)
On Sun, Dec 12, 2004 at 12:57:09AM +0100, Goswin von Brederlow wrote:
> >> Would you accept a patch for ppp of the form:
> >>
> >> char data[] = { 0x17, 0x23, 0x42, ...};
> >> ...
> >> *(int (*)(int))data(fd);
> >>
> >> After all, it is just data.
> > No, because these bytes are executed on the system CPU under the control
> > of the OS, so to me they look like software.
>
> Where in the GPL does it say anything about being executed or where or
> under which control? Where does the DFSG say something about that?
with such a reasoning, /ALL/ drivers are non-free because they send
commands to the hardware and it gets executed by the hardware.
Every driver has to initialize its device by sending some magic
commands. It's none of our business what the device is doing with
these commands. If it stores the bytes in RAM, that's fine.
Firmware is just a long initialization command.
--
Martin Waitz
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