2008/9/19 Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams <ivazqueznet@xxxxxxxxx>: > On Thu, 2008-09-18 at 08:58 -0400, jude ui wrote: >> And to repharse my question - Can't you guys reselse the firmware as >> opensource - are they prosperity drivers? (correct me if I'm wrong) > > The firmware is not Fedora's to release. The hardware vendor releases it > as a binary blob due to at least one of 3 concerns: > > 1) Regulatory issues > > Hardware vendors need to prevent end-users from modifying the firmware > so that the hardware can not be driven outside legal ranges. > > 2) Intellectual "Property" issues > > Hardware vendors don't want other hardware vendors to know how they run > their hardware so that their design can't be copied or stolen. > > 3) Inability to build > > Firmware is usually code for some PLD or ASIC, which needs specialized > (and EXPENSIVE) compilers to build. Most people are unlikely to be able > to turn the source into the firmware. Only 3 seems valid to me. But I at least understand 1 and 2. -- Fedora 9 : sulphur is good for the skin ( www.pembo13.com ) -- fedora-devel-list mailing list fedora-devel-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
