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Re: Leverage in licensing discussions (was: [DRAFT] resolving DFSG violations)



Le vendredi 07 novembre 2008 à 00:27 +0100, Michelle Konzack a écrit :
> The problem is, that even if it is mass production since  some  time,  I
> can not distribute the firmware as  open  source  since  it  change  the
> behavour of the hardware which then can distrurb the GSM network.

This reasoning, as any security-by-obscurity one, is completely flawed.
As long as the firmware is distributed separately, you can modify it,
whether it is open source or not. Not having the source never prevented
people from making modifications.

This is precisely a reason why manufacturers should actually distribute
the sources for such firmware files. Having the source available helps
fixing bugs and in the end you can make a new, improved firmware that
can be submitted, if necessary in your country, to the local authorities
for being allowed for use on production hardware.

When the firmware is not open source, the only things that you will see
people do by modifying it will be breaking the limitations to work with
frequencies they are not supposed to. When it is open source, you can
still expect that, but you can also expect actual improvement in the
firmware and the driver. Pick your choice.

-- 
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: :' :      We are debian.org. Lower your prices, surrender your code.
`. `'       We will add your hardware and software distinctiveness to
  `-        our own. Resistance is futile.

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