Re: Proposal - Deferment of Changes from GR 2004-003
Xavier Roche writes:
> The firmware is a detached part of the connected hardware, nothing more.
It's software. It's not a part at all.
> Wi-Fi cards problems are a good example: there is no ROM in the pcmcia
> device, and therefore the binary code is loaded during startup in the
> RAM. Why should we treat this case differently ?
Do we treat Wi-Fi cards differently? We shouldn't.
> I strongly think that firmware are a pieces of proprietary hardware.
If it gets loaded into RAM and executed by a cpu it is software.
> But not part of the operating system (the code is independent from the
> architecture and the OS).
Then it need not be licensed under GPL-compatible terms. However, if
Debian distributes it, it must be under a DFSG-compliant license.
> Are we going to ask for the hardware sources, too ?
Debian does not distribute the hardware.
--
John Hasler
john@dhh.gt.org (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI
Reply to: