Re: Bug#239952: kernel-source-2.6.4: qla2xxx contains non-free firmware
On Mar 26, Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net> wrote:
> > No, there is no difference. Your hardware needs some non-free code to
> > work, and there is nothing you can do about it.
> Has the hardware somehow been designed to not work if it is fed free
> code instead of non-free? How on earth does one get circuitry to make
> that distinction?
The firmware could be signed, but this is usually not a problem.
The real problem is that there is no pratical way to rewrite from scratch
certain code. (If you don't believe this then please introduce me to
sombody able to write the software which implements DSL modulations and
is not already working for a modem vendor and/or encumbered by NDAs.
And don't forget about the patents either. Obviously he will get no
documentation from the modem chipset producer, so let's look for an
expert in hardware reverse engineering as well.)
--
ciao, |
Marco | [5368 alY2KC5i2yIKU]
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