RTL8821cu firmware license issue
Hello, RealTek Team.
I have the question on licensing issue with RTL8821cu firmware.
When packaging the RTL8821CU driver[1] for Debian project I found that
it includes firmware in hal8821c_fw.c as encoded BLOB.
In the file it is stated that it's covered by the GPL-2 license[2].
According to GPL paragraph 3 when you distribute binary code you should
provide sources as well[3], but there are no source code for firmware
available. That's why we cant include the firmware (and driver itself)
in the Debian GNU Linux distribution.
As I can see RealTek has common practice to release drivers under
the therms of GPL, but firmwares under BSD-like license[4].
To solve the problem (and prevent GPL violation), please provide
firmware sources (under the therms of GPL v2) or clarify the license
for the firmware if it differs from the driver itself.
[1] https://github.com/axiomware/RTL8821CU_driver_v5.8.1
[2]
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axiomware/RTL8821CU_driver_v5.8.1/master/hal/rtl8821c/hal8821c_fw.c
[3] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html
[4]
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/tree/LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt
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Best regards,
Alexander Gerasiov
Contacts:
e-mail: a@gerasiov.net WWW: https://gerasiov.net TG/Skype: gerasiov
PGP fingerprint: 04B5 9D90 DF7C C2AB CD49 BAEA CA87 E9E8 2AAC 33F1
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