Fedora not "free" enough for GNU?

Alexandre Oliva aoliva at redhat.com
Sun Sep 21 20:52:50 UTC 2008


On Sep 21, 2008, "Jeff Spaleta" <jspaleta at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 21, 2008 at 1:52 AM, Alexandre Oliva <aoliva at redhat.com> wrote:
>> Not trying to be flamy, but...
>> 
>> - there's a 100% Free kernel source alternate upstream that tracks
>> kernel.org very closely, that's identical except for the removal of
>> non-Free firmware, and that's been available for quite a while
>> (linux-libre)

> I think the suggestion that we move to an alternate source for the
> kernel, is short sighted and not in the long term best interests of
> this project.

Now that the ability to ship firmware separately was mostly addressed,
what's the new objection?

The switch didn't even have to be permanent.  Just use what's ready
and tracks upstream now, and then go back to what isn't ready now when
it is.  What's the big deal?

> Define "quite a while now".

More than two months, for the firmware package.  Twice as long since I
first got involved with linux-libre, which was long after the project
started.  Heck, when linux-libre was first proposed as a solution, it
wasn't even too late for Fedora 9, if the issue of user freedom was
taken as seriously as say legal issues.

> By Woodhouse's own words in this
> thread, he feels we are "close" to offering a solution.

I don't see that he's trying solve the same problem.  It might be
that, as a collateral effect of his work, we'll be closer to a
solution for the problem of user freedom.  But that he keeps Free and
non-Free firmware in the same package, and promotes the solution as a
means to add even more non-Free firmware to the package and the
distro, shows his goal is 'remove firmware from the kernel', not
'split Free from non-Free software in a way that enables Free software
to be shipped without non-Free Software'.


> Is it in time for F10?  no. Is that ultimately so important? no.

Not for Fedora, that's quite clear.  Two releases in a row that
refrain from adopting a solution that's ready, because...  I don't
know, because "it's not in the long term best interests of this
project"?

-- 
Alexandre Oliva         http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
Free Software Evangelist  oliva@{lsd.ic.unicamp.br, gnu.org}
FSFLA Board Member       ¡Sé Libre! => http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer   aoliva@{redhat.com, gcc.gnu.org}




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