On 10/6/06, MJ Ray <mjr@phonecoop.coop> wrote:
I'd defer to Larry Doolittle on this one, but I think unless we have some reason to think there is another form used as source code, it's fine to consider the only codes our source code - for all we know, it was written that way. Best of all would be to get clarifications of what type each firmware is, but I doubt that's easy in all cases. However, if we strongly suspect that we don't have a valid permission to modify, distribute and so on, run a mile.
I'd like to note a message[1] by Frank Küster concerning this on debian-vote which wasn't posted to debian-legal. A quote from that message: : In making the list, I left off all cases where I had any doubt. : I am not perfect, but I have plenty of experience using and writing : firmware of many kinds. I would be very surprised if any of the : listed firmware is not derived from a human-legible design file of : one form or another. : : So while it is perhaps a polite excuse that "we don't know for sure : if these thousands of bytes of hex code were ever compiled from source", : no sane person would bet against it. (And my answer[2] was that IMHO it's not "a polite excuse" but "a blatant attempt to knowingly violate the copyright law without actually admitting the violation".) [1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/10/msg00090.html [2] http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/10/msg00102.html -- Markus Laire