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@xxxxxxx> > > > > > > > > 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 _______________________________________________ fedora-advisory-board mailing list fedora-advisory-board@xxxxxxxxxx http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-advisory-board
