Re: Bug#239952: kernel-source-2.6.4: qla2xxx contains non-freefirmware
- To: debian-legal@lists.debian.org
- Subject: Re: Bug#239952: kernel-source-2.6.4: qla2xxx contains non-freefirmware
- From: Nathanael Nerode <neroden@twcny.rr.com>
- Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 06:44:46 -0400
- Message-id: <[🔎] c4oous$tav$2@sea.gmane.org>
- References: <20040325162144.GA8720@wonderland.linux.it> <1080238533.2106.45.camel@atari.stigge.org> <20040325214939.GX16746@fs.tum.de> <c424er$1i9$4@sea.gmane.org> <20040327010802.GA6561@thunk.org> <c44nru$i1j$1@sea.gmane.org> <20040327232724.GA6906@wonderland.linux.it> <c48nae$nah$1@sea.gmane.org> <87isgngtlh.fsf@kreon.lan.henning.makholm.net> <87r7vbfc7e.fsf@kreon.lan.henning.makholm.net>
Henning Makholm wrote:
> Scripsit Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net>
>
>> It ought not to be difficult (neither in a technical or in a
>> economic/legal sense) for manufacturers to ship the standard firmware
>> as a separate file on the driver CD that usually accompanies such
>> hardware, and for the authors of free drivers to make the kernel look
>> for the firmware on the file system when the device is first accessed.
>> The driver could log an appropriate message during boot-up which
>> some appropriate package could inspect (during installation, or even
>> at each boot if so configured) and ask the user to insert the vendor's
>> driver CD in order to copy firmware from it.
>
> A side question: Does -legal think that it would be OK for Debian to
> distribute *checksums* of the non-free magic blob-of-bits, such that
> it can be located inside a Windows driver on a disk without needing to
> know its exact position?
Checksums, of the just-a-few-bytes variety? Probably short enough to
contain no creative expression. What do others think?
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