links

People asked for links about my previous post.

• Not being able to boot a debian installer on a "difficult" platform that requires loading a firmware to boot or to install: "If it made any sense at all for a mainboard's BIOS to loaded by the Linux kernel at boot time with a non-free firmware blob, the current consensus (on debian-legal anyway) seems to be that Debian would not support it"
• Thinking that we can "force open" the firmware: "They can open their specifications or we'll fucking implement around them and eventually drive them out of the market."
• PROM good, firmware on CD bad: here
• Extending the GPL to hardware: "..taint his filesystem.."
• A loading non-libre firmware makes the loader non-libre: "...counts as a dependency..."
• Signs that two "groups" are forming: "You are the only person I've seen express views similar to mine on debian-legal."
• It is acceptable to refuse to run on hardware that uses non-DFSG firmware: "Users don't have to install firmware/bios/whatever before linux runs in the normal case. That is the difference."
• The non-existing loading firmware step in debian installer and again refusing to run on difficult platforms: here

Please note these links are just part of a discussion, but the general trend seems set and until there is an "official" policy on this that is all there is to go on.


Finally debian installer was getting hardware aware enough to "just work", with pride I could point people to the test releases and hear they would see all the hardware. What are we going to say to people come next release?
"You cannot install if you have an USB ADSL modem because we don't have the source."
"I don't need the source, I just need to load the firmware"
"Without the source the system is not pure, we don't support non-pure systems"
"But that is the only system they sell here"
"We are the guardians of pureness, nothing can exist that is not pure"
"Your DNA is not readable by me, it is not a preferred form for modification"
"Oh, I'll just pop out and kill myself"


This seems to have become a rather long post. Sorry for that.