[Fwd: Re: Fedora free software?]

[Josh Boyer]

On Tue, 2007-03-20 at 21:47 -0400, seth vidal wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-03-20 at 21:36 -0400, Dave Jones wrote:
> > On Tue, Mar 20, 2007 at 03:15:39PM -0500, Tom spot Callaway wrote:
> >  > -------- Forwarded Message --------
> >  > > From: Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org>
> >  > >
> >  > >     I honestly wish we didn't have to have such a clause, but without binary
> >  > >     firmware, the vast majority of wireless hardware is completely
> >  > >     non-functional.
> >  > > 
> >  > > We have to recommend that people buy the only products that don't
> >  > > require non-free firmware.  See the Hardware pages on fsf.org.
> >  > > Can you help spread the word about this?
> >  > 
> >  > The link that RMS is referring to is here:
> >  > http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/hardware.html
> >  > 
> >  > I don't think there is any harm in Fedora recommending that consumers
> >  > purchase wireless products that don't require firmware. I'm not entirely
> >  > sure the best way to go about this, though.
> > 
> > We can certainly promote it, but I don't think we should go to the extreme of
> > not shipping firmware just because it's "non free".
> > 
> > This problem is much bigger than just wireless too. If we decide to go the
> > crazy debian route of not shipping firmware, we can forget about a ton of
> > storage hardware, a bunch of ethernet drivers, x86 microcode updates, some
> > sound cards and probably a bunch of USB gadgets.
> > 
> > Neutering our drivers just as we're starting to get somewhere with "works out
> > of the box" would be a huge step backwards.   Is it worth driving
> > more users towards Ubuntu in the name of "freedom", especially given
> > it's a freedom that few (if any) would ever exercise?
> > 
> > "Buy something else" isn't really an answer for situations where you can't
> > /get/ something else.  Try finding a laptop with a wireless chipset that
> > doesn't need firmware.
> 
> Seems like there are 3 things we should convey, then:
> 
> 1. you should attempt to buy hw with completely free drivers

s/with completely free drivers/that needs no binary bits.

The device drivers for several of the devices _are_ GPLed.  It's the
firmware that is loaded onto the cards that is not.  There is a
difference.

josh