Re: Firmware stuff - was systemd troll
On 03/03/14 16:56, Bret Busby wrote:
> On Sun, 2 Mar 2014, yaro@marupa.net wrote:
>
>> Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2014 03:05:20 From: yaro@marupa.net To:
>> debian-user@lists.debian.org Subject: Re: Four people decided the
>> fate of debian with systemd. Bad faith and other such complete
>> fabrications likely Resent-Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2014 19:21:09 +0000
>> (UTC) Resent-From: debian-user@lists.debian.org
>>
>> On Sunday, March 02, 2014 01:28:57 PM Doug wrote:
>>> On 03/02/2014 02:02 AM, Scott Ferguson wrote:
>>>> On 02/03/14 16:53, yaro@marupa.net wrote:
>>>>> On Sunday, March 02, 2014 04:25:13 PM Scott Ferguson wrote:
>>>>>> On 02/03/14 11:28, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
>>>>>>> On Sun, 2014-03-02 at 10:55 +1100, Scott Ferguson wrote:
>
<snipped>
> why a spearate firmware distribution of Debian Linux, needs to
> exist, rather than the firmware being included in the offical Debian
> version.
It is included, but not by default. This is IMO the right thing to do.
Consider spam. By law you can opt-out of spam (at least in Australia).
Which in effect means companies are free to spam you, until you tell
them not to. That's not freedom.
Debian is about freedom, so you *can* *opt-in* to licences that restrict
it - if you choose. Firmware has restrictions placed on it's use, by the
"firms". Those restrictions can restrict your freedom - by default
Debian seeks to protect your freedom, as long as you choose to do so.
When you install you are asked if you want to include the non-free and
contrib repositories. non-free is what it says it, and contrib is
packages required by non-free.
So Debian *does* include firmware, (both "free" and "non-free"), and the
choice is up to you whether you install it. By default you don't have it
installed, only the main repostitory. You are free to install it at
anytime by editing /etc/apt/sources.list and adding non-free and contrib
to the appropriate repository lines. e.g.:-
deb http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
>
> Also, and I do not know how applicable this is, to what is
> happening, I wonder why Debian does not provide backward
> compatibility with previous versions of Debian; why provision is not
> made, to allow software that runs on Debian 5, to run on Debian 6 and
> Debian 7.
It'd be an development and maintenance nightmare - quite likely an
impossibility. In some cases it's possible, dependent on what's required
by the software (system calls, libraries etc).
>
> As a single example, I have a multifunction printer, of which, the
> multifunctionality worked with Debian 5. Now, it is only a laser
> printer, running with Debian 6 - to use it to scan, I have to scan
> to a USB drive, and then copy the files to the computer, as Debian 6
> (and, I believe, similarly, Debian 7) does not provide for the
> device to wotk with it, other than using a printer driver that is not
> for the particular model range, and, losing all other interfaced
> functionality.
>
> Surely, it must be possible, to provide backward compatibility, to
> allow software that ran on earlier versions of Debian, to run on a
> current stable version?
No, for the same reasons I stated in the previous sentence. However
that's not the problem, or solution in your case (x-y?).
You need software support for older hardware, not support for older
software. I'd be very surprised if that was not possible.
That's a different subject and as such should be posted as a different
subject. Preferably with the appropriate information so your problem can
be resolved and so that it isn't just more irrelevant material clogging
the list with random, non-productive tangents.
>
> -- Bret Busby Armadale West Australia ..............
>
> "So once you do know what the question actually is, you'll know what
> the answer means." - Deep Thought, Chapter 28 of Book 1 of "The
> Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy In Four Parts", written
> by Douglas Adams, published by Pan Books, 1992
> ....................................................
>
>
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