Re: non-free firmware: driver in main or contrib?

[Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Nathanael Nerode <neroden@twcny.rr.com> wrote:

> If the driver does not provide any significant functionality without the
> firmware, it belongs in contrib.
> 
> If there are some cards which the driver drives which work without the
> firmware, it can go in main.

Nowadays very few drivers will work without the presence of non-free
software. This may be located in flash, or it may be loaded from the
operating system. Why should a hardware implementation detail affect
whether or not we include the drivers on a Debian CD?

(Whether or not we should ship firmware is an entirely separate
argument that I'm not massively interested in here)
-- 
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-chiark.mail.debian.legal@srcf.ucam.org