Re: Linux-libre for Debian Lenny
Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> writes:
> Okay. So I take it then that you would be against separate packaging
> for Linux-Libre for Debian, and prefer instead to apply all its
> changes to Debian's Linux?
I know this wasn't addressed to me, but I feel the urge to weigh in.
I think the removal of even the ability to load non-free firmware is
stupid and self-defeating and certainly don't think that should be done
in Debian, in either the main Linux kernel packages or, for that matter,
in a separate package. (I'm sure the security team doesn't want to do
twice as many kernel security builds just to support that particular
exercise.)
Whatever other work the Linux-Libre folks, or anyone else for that
matter, do to cleanly separate firmware from the Linux kernel (even for
free firmware, as far as I'm concerned) seems like a good thing to
adopt.
As with any other Debian package, the best approach for adoption is to
get the patches adopted upstream so that everyone can benefit and we
don't have to maintain local divergences. It sounds like Ben Hutchings
and the Debian kernel team have been doing great work in this area, and
I can only stand and applaud their excellent, constructive resolution of
this problem in a way that's consistent with all of our ideals.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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