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Firmware GR result - what happens next?



Hi all!

[ I've also blogged about this - see
  https://blog.einval.com/2022/10/02#firmware-vote-result ]

I'm assuming that there will be no surprises and Kurt will shortly
confirm the result that devotee reported already [1]. :-)

We have quite a few things to do now, ideally before the freeze for
Debian 12 (bookworm), due January 2023 [2]. This list of work items is
almost definitely not complete, and Cyril and I are aiming to get
together this week and do more detailed planning for the d-i
pieces. Off the top of my head I can think of the following:

* Update the SC with the new text, update the website.

* Check/add support for the non-free-firmware section in various
  places:
  + d-i build
  + debian-cd
  + debmirror (?)
  + ftpsync (?)
  + Any others?

* Uploads of firmware packages targeting non-free-firmware.

* Extra d-i code to inform users about what firmware blobs have been
  loaded and the matching non-free-firmware packages. Plus information
  about the hardware involved. Maybe a new d-i module / udeb for this?
  Exact details here still TBD. Probably the biggest individual piece
  of work here.

* Tweaks to add the non-free-firmware section in the apt-setup module
  if desired/needed.

* An extra boot option (a debconf variable) to disable loading extra
  firmware automatically, then exposed as an extra option through the
  isolinux and GRUB menus. d-i "expert mode" can also be used to tweak
  this behaviour later, except (obviously) for things like audio
  firmware that *must* be loaded early if they're going to be useful
  at all.

* Update the image build scripts to include the n-f-f packages, only
  build one type of image. I'll do my best to keep config and support
  around too for images without n-f-f included, to make it easier to
  still build those for people who still want them.

* Matching updates to docs, website, wiki etc.

* ...

If you think I've missed anything here, please let me and Cyril know -
the best place would be the mailing list
(debian-boot@lists.debian.org). If you'd like to help implement any of
these changes, that would be lovely too!

[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2022/10/msg00000.html
[2] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2022/03/msg00251.html

-- 
Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK.                                steve@einval.com
There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss


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