I sent this to the rpmfusion-developers list yesterday. It occurred to me that it might be worth sending here too... So, is there any chance that the wording below justifies or leads to approval of a b43-firwmare package in the official Fedora repository? If so, then I will cease my efforts to get such a package into RPM Fusion. It certainly would be better for our users to have these packages in the main repository rather than in a 3rd party one. Thanks for your consideration! John P.S. Regarding my reference to "any Fedora Authority", all my Fedora project inquiries thus far have been 1:1 or 1:few between me and the interested parties. This is my first formal inquiry on this issue. ----- Forwarded message from "John W. Linville" <linville@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ----- > Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:01:27 -0500 > From: "John W. Linville" <linville@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: rpmfusion-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: consider a b43-firmware package like this? > > Greetings, > > Probably some of you know my name and my role with Fedora and the > Linux kernel. If not, then suffice it to say that I am very interested > in having people get wireless working as easily as possible. > > One problem that often hinders users in that regard is firmware for > their wireless devices. Fortunately, Fedora has accepted firmware > packages in the main repository for some time. And, we have had > good success with getting firmware made available under suitable > licenses for Fedora. Still, one particular vendor has been non- > (but not necessarily anti-)cooperative: Broadcom. This is a problem, > as their devices are quite common. > > The "approved" firmware for use with the b43 and b43legacy drivers > comes from the OpenWRT website, where it is provided as part of larger > MIPS binaries. AFAIK Broadcom has never bothered OpenWRT about this, > yet neither have they offered an explicitly stated license for this > practice. > > The MIPS binaries from the OpenWRT site in turn come from packages > distributed by wireless AP vendors in order to comply with the GPL. > The MIPS binaries are pre-compiled in those packages, but they are > clearly intended to be linked into Linux kernels to run on those APs. > In my mind, this at least implies intent that it is alright to > redistribute these binaries. > > So, I have created packages which use these AP vendor's GPL packages as > sources, extract the MIPS binaries, then further extract the wireless > firmware using b43-fwcutter. It is a bit odd in that the src.rpm file > (containing the AP vendor code) is huge, while the binary rpm file > is tiny. But, they work just fine. :-) I have packages for both > b43 and b43legacy. I will include the COPYING file I composed for > inclusion in the b43 firmware package below. I have a similar one for > the b43legacy package. > > Perhaps not surprisingly, the string of arguments above has yet to > sway any Fedora authority to bless these packages. So I wonder, > is the case above strong enough to merit including such packages in > RPM Fusion? If that seems likely, then I'll be happy to submit the > packages for your review. Obviously this would seem to belong in the > "non free" section... > > Thanks, > > John > > P.S. COPYING file from the b43-firmware package below. (The "by > permission of" bit was suggested by someone else -- I'm happy to > augment it or remove it as anyone might suggest...) > > --- > > Redistributed by permission of Broadcom in binary form only, no > modifications permitted. > > The source archive for this package was reached through a link at > the following URL: > > http://www.linksys.com/gpl/ > > The text at that location reads as follows: > > GPL Code Center > > The source code files available on this page have been provided > under one or more open source licenses. Select your Linksys > product model and a firmware version from the list below to > download the source code library. > > The source code found here is complete to the best of > Linksys’ knowledge. If you believe any additional > source code files should be provided under the > applicable open source license, please contact Linksys at > linksys-opensource@xxxxxxxxxxx and provide in detail the > product or code module in question. Linksys is committed to > meeting the requirements of the open source licenses including > the GNU General Public License (GPL) and will make all required > source code available. > > The following URL is the direct link to the archive used as the source > of this package: > > ftp://ftp.linksys.com/opensourcecode/wrt350n/1.03.2/WRT350N_v1.03.2_US.tgz > > The source archive was specifically provided by Linksys in order to > fulfill obligations arising from distribution of software licensed > under the GPL and other open source licenses. Given that fact, > it is reasonable to infer that redistribution of the archive itself > and the contents of that archive is accepted by Linksys, Broadcom, > and any other copyright holders. > -- > John W. Linville > linville@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ----- End forwarded message ----- -- John W. 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