Re: Proposal - Deferment of Changes from GR 2004-003
On 29 Apr 2004, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:
> If firmware were part of the connected hardware, it would be part of
> the hardware, and the kernel wouldn't be loading anything.
The firmware is a detached part of the connected hardware, nothing more.
The loading process just reconnects this part so that the hardware can
work.
Wi-Fi cards problems are a good example: there is no ROM in the pcmcia
device, and therefore the binary code is loaded during startup in the RAM.
Why should we treat this case differently ?
[ Hardware + Firmware ] === [ Kernel ]
[ Hardware + Loadable firmware ] <== [ Firmware + Kernel ]
I strongly think that firmware are a pieces of proprietary hardware.
Proprietary, yes. But not part of the operating system (the code is
independent from the architecture and the OS). Are we going to ask for the
hardware sources, too ?
This is a very serious issue, considering some kernel modules (example:
some SCSI cards - what to do if you can not boot the installer CD ?), and
it can potentially harm debian users.
Reply to: