Wireless Guide / NTFS Guide / New writing

[Adam Moreland]

Hey,

>
>+0.75:  Several people have raised the point on the f-a-b list that the
>upstream kernel has included an NTFS driver for a LONG time, and since
>the OIN protects the kernel, there should be no prohibition against
>Fedora shipping at least a read-only NTFS kernel module.  If we can
>resolve that issue successfully, an NTFS guide which restricts itself to
>that protected part of the problem space (i.e. the portion solved by an
>included kernel module) would be a useful and good thing.
>
>--
>Paul W. Frields, RHCE                          http://paul.frields.org/
>   gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
>      Fedora Project Board: http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Board
>  Fedora Documentation Project: http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/docs/

I am for such a thing. Also can i ask for some verification, as as far as i 
know, fedora dfoes ship with supports for some wireless NIC's and 
ndiswrapper is an open source program. In fact can i ask for clarification 
on the definition of wireless ebing restricted and prohibited.

The usage of ndiswrapper is to allow proprietry software to intergrate into 
the kernel, but this seems not to be an issue in other distros and in fact 
fedora ships with support for some Intel wireless cards already. Surely for 
the sake of fedora this type of distinction (of wireless being forbidden) is 
rediculous. After all it is an open source solution, using open source 
materials, to allow the open surce communtiy to have legal access to the 
drivers they already paid for once they purchased the wireless NIC.

I cannot see how a guide on the usage of ndiswrapper (which is open source) 
cannot be achieved, so long as the guide doesnt explicitly promote the 
proprietry software. After all isnt this the point?? To intergrate the open 
source to merge the experience into one community solution?? Wireless is 
still a massive problem for Linux users, but i have guides for both SUSE 
9.x/10.x and FC5.

Please can i have clarification as to the reasons that ndiswrapper cannot be 
used in the fedora etras repo, and why the use of ndiswrapper contradicts 
the policy of fedora-docs on the use of proprietry means. I read the policy 
as meaning that you cannot use nVidia, as they make it, but ndiswrapper is a 
middle man, and is open source. We (linux community) have used the same 
workarounds to get Logitech keybaords, HP devices, most printers, laptops, 
speakers, sound cards, and other methods. The user need not support 
proprietry means, because by using the open source ndiswrapper, they are 
surely curcumventing the need to be protected by the policy on forbidding 
proprietry terms.

I can see the huge gap caused by the lack of clarification from fedora on 
the use of such means like wireless, and also NTFS. The confusion is 
unwarrented surely. Cant there be a solution where the NTFS modules can be 
brought into fedora extras, and a guide be used accordingly. FAT32 is 
supported, and other forms and file systems, so why not NTFS, which has had 
a long history with fedora and is clearly completly open source.


Mr Adam L Moreland (MAniX) | Registered Linux User: #417406
BA (Hons) Media Studies, 2nd Year, UoN
WEB: http://www.manix-place.co.uk
BLOG:http://www.2welshmen-and-a-sheep.co.uk
****
System: Pentium 4 SKT478 2.8GHz Precott, AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+ | GPG Key: 
AC230C32
****
pub 1024D/AC230C32 2006-05-21
Key fingerprint = 14F4 50F5 806C 25A5 B33C C2BF 982C 87B7 AC23 0C32
uid Adam Moreland (MAniX)
sub 2048g/A471FCE7 2006-05-21
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