Re: on firmware (possible proposal)

[Patrick Schoenfeld <schoenfeld@in-medias-res.com>]

Hi,

On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 03:29:30PM +0100, Robert Millan wrote:
> For example, if you want to install Debian on an NSLU, the only difficulty is
> finding the unofficial D-I images that include non-free firmware.  And even
> that can be improved.  They could be linked from the main website, and
> integrated with our infrastructure, much like we do for "non-free", as long
> as we make it clear they're not officially "Debian".

well, as you say for yourself "non-free" is not Debian, which basically
means that we provide infrastructure and such, but if in doubt the user
is left alone with his problems. It also means that *we* need to
distinguish between _official_ and _inofficial_ medias, while requiring
users to get inofficial medias to install in the first place, which is
quiet insane.

I do think its good to handle those firmware data different from how we
handle the non-free section. Possibly we also need to handle it
different then main, because we have a source code requirement for main.
Thats why I like his proposal.

Regards,
Patrick