Re: Firmware - what are we going to do about it?
FWIW, as a 10+ years user (first time caller :p) I strongly support
sticking with the status quo. There are plenty of systems that don't
require firmware to work, and often when people say it doesn't "work"
they really mean that its functionality is more limited. I use Debian
specifically because it has a good free license policy that separates
these things out cleanly and makes it easy to get rid of all the
proprietary junk -- by never installing it. Debian is, in my
experience, the most stable and accessible way to reliably have a free
system, and I would be very disappointed to lose that. I think the
ideological element is important, drawing a line in the sand and
making it clear to users that if hardware isn't working, the
manufacturer is at fault. And I like to know that myself, so I can
return the hardware and replace it — it can sometimes be hard to find
documentation as to whether hardware will be useable or crippled with
the need for proprietary crap. I have not personally encountered these
widespread problems you describe with modern hardware — more sporadic
issues — but I am not a bleeding edge, buy it ASAP person. (This is
another ideological point: we are destroying the environment with
e-waste thanks to unnecessary hardware upgrades and planned
obsolescence.) I think sacrificing a core aspect of Debian for the
sake of covenient access to novelty hardware is a real shame.
There are definitely people who use forks because it's easier to
install non-free firmware. What's the problem with that? Let them use
forks. A distro can't be all things to all people. Debian is unique in
this area, and it would be a shame to sacrifice that and make it just
like all the rest. And it's unclear what benefit there is to
attracting a larger and larger userbase as a bottom-line. It is not a
commercial project, so they will not be paying customers. The
best-case scenario is that people are attracted to making
contributions or becoming more interested in free software, which I
thought was the main goal. So if that isn't prioritized, what's the
point?
Further, there are security concerns with blobs. Yes, we can get
microcode updates, but were those updates themselves actually audited?
As far as I know, they are just as opaque as the code they're
replacing. They could be making security worse, and we won't know
until someone finds the exploits. The rare event where a microcode
update is released and it increases security is far outweighed by the
vast majority of the situations where installing opaque code is
detrimental to security.
If people are unhappy with the status quo, my proposal would be to
encourage more people to work on free alternatives. There is an ocean
of possibilities here, from open hardware to reverse engineering. My
feeling is that a lot more could be done to better support hardware
that doesn't involve non-free code at all. There are many free
projects that have never made it to Debian.
Anyway, I'm just a user/lurker, so I appreciate that my voice doesn't
carry much weight. And this discussion is a bit old now, so I hope I'm
not stepping on toes. Just my two cents! Thank you everyone for all
the hard work you do to make my computer significantly less
infuriating to use. It's the best operating system I've ever used, and
I have used quite a few.
-pnppl
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