Re: Proposal: The DFSG do not require source code for data, including firmware
On Wed, Aug 23, 2006 at 09:15:12AM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:23:29 -0700, Steve Langasek <vorlon@debian.org> said:
> > aren't software. So if firmware was already supposed to be covered
> > under the DFSG, how is this reconciled with the fact that no one
> > ever worried about firmware in Debian until the past couple of
> > years?
> These are not just reasonable definitions -- they are the
> overwhelming majority of definitions found for the terms. I searched
> the digital libraries of the ACM and of the IEEE, and I have yet to
> come across any mention of firmware that does not concede that it is
> software programs -- perhaps software programs that are read off
Within a Debian context people normally seem to use the term "firmware"
to mean any binary blob that gets programmed into hardware. This could
include things like register settings or FPGA images as well as programs
to execute on embedded processors. I'm not sure if there are any
instances of these other types in the upstream kernel, though.
--
"You grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream - or a fever."
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