Re: Let's stop feeding the NVidia cuckoo
Hi,
MJ Ray <mjr@dsl.pipex.com> wrote:
>I still feel [the nv driver] falls into a "free but
not very good" category, but I think I would be
convinced by an FSF position on this.
After a quick search to try and find if the FSF ever
voiced an opinion on nv, I unfortunately only dug out
the well-known case against NVidia's binary kernel
module. Probably they never considered the issue. I
sent them a mail anyway pointing them to this thread
with a quick summary of the issue, we'll see if they
answer. Probably not because it is outside the scope
of their own concerns, but who knows. You'll find my
mail to the FSF at the bottom, hopefully I have not
been too biased nor unclear.
>If we only consider "software that invites hacking"
to be free software, we're going to lose a lot more of
GNU. That's probably one reason why it's not in the
DFSG. It just has to be possible. Not necessarily
easy.
"Software that invites hacking" is not a good metrics,
I agree. What I propose instead is that Debian
considered a stricter definition of source code such
as that in the GPL. In my understanding, for now
source code in Debian could as well be precompiled
code or code that can only be compiled on a compiler
than only can be compiled by itself. These are
exagerations, but though there is a a general dislike
against obfuscated code, to my understanding it is not
warranted by the DFSG themselves.
Cheers,
Camille d'Alméras
Mail to the FSF:
Dear Sir,
As of 01/03/05, there is an ongoing discussion on the
debian-legal mailing list to make sure the "nv" X
driver complies with the DFSG ; the title of the
thread is "Let's stop feeding the NVidia cuckoo". The
moral authority on free software of the FSF was
brought to the discussion, so I ask your opinion on
the matter. A quick summary of the argument is as
follows: the "nv" driver's source, though it is most
probably not obfuscated through software, is made
nearly unhackable by the use of "magic numbers" for
functions. There are discusions going on to find out
if this coding style is natural or contrived to
obscure the code.
Could you give us your take on the matter ? Does the
FSF consider nv free software ?
Thank you,
Camille d'Alméras
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