Objecive 2 of the Fedora "contract" specifies that it should be built exclusivly from open source software.
But is firmware software? It is more like a document, image, or other fixed item. What about Creative Commons "by" and "by-nd" licensed documentation are those items locked out of Fedora as well?
I think we should re-evaluate the belief that locking out "free as in beer" firmware ( and all firmware is only "free as in beer" unless they provide the source ) is the proper action for the community when these files enable open source operating systems to interact with otherwise propratary hardware. I think that the first objective of the "contract" is to provide a general operating system platform equivilant to other competing systems must be evaluated before locking these files out. To say that these types of firmware are no longer welcome I think will hurt us long term as the hardware get smarter and more flexable. Communications hardware especially that are generally bound by one or more legal body to constrain it's abilities. Hardware manufactures who open their hardware to blanket hacking risk loosing the license to sell the hardware, so don't expect them to open the firmware as that is legally not an option for them.
Is this lock out based on ideology or reality. Including "free as in beer" firmware does not compromise the ability to redistribute Fedora freely and I think it moves us closer to the goal of a genreal-purpose operating system out of the box. It improves user feedback and reduces problamatic and frustrating installs for both users and the people that are drawn in to help new users get past these repetitive and common problems.
Cheers, Eric
