RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for linux-firmware inclusion

RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for linux-firmware inclusion

[Johan Alvarado]

Hello,

I am the author of a patch series currently under review on netdev,
adding SGMII/HSGMII support for the RTL8367S switch to the mainline
Linux rtl8365mb DSA driver:

  https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/0100019eb0b1822e-ffc5626c-1b9f-4c8a-8a1a-759a9e665f4f-000000@email.amazonses.com/

Bringing up the SerDes on this chip requires loading a small firmware
blob (1233 bytes) into the embedded DW8051 microcontroller. The driver
requests it via the kernel firmware API as realtek/rtl8367s-sgmii.bin.

The only public source of this blob is the rtl8367c vendor SDK as
distributed in GPL source code releases by Realtek's customers (in my
case the Mercusys MR80X v2 GPL code drop), where it is embedded as a
byte array (Sgmii_Init[] in rtl8367c_asicdrv_port.c).

I submitted the blob to linux-firmware:

  https://gitlab.com/kernel-firmware/linux-firmware/-/merge_requests/1092

but it cannot be accepted in its current state: the surrounding SDK
code is GPL-licensed, yet the actual source code of the 8051 microcode
has never been published, so the effective license of the blob is
unclear and GPL compliance cannot be met by redistributing it
(see review by Dmitry Baryshkov in the MR above).

May I ask Realtek for one of the following:

  1. Submit the firmware to linux-firmware directly, with an
     appropriate redistribution license, as the Realtek NIC team
     already does for the rtl_nic firmware files; or

  2. Provide an explicit license statement permitting redistribution
     of this firmware via linux-firmware, and ACK the merge request
     above.

If this mailbox is not the right contact for the switch product line,
I would be very grateful if you could forward this request to the
team responsible for the RTL8367S / rtl8367c SDK, or point me to the
right contact.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,
Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>

RE: RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for linux-firmware inclusion

[Hau]

+ Switch Team FAE

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>
> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2026 1:12 AM
> To: nic_swsd <nic_swsd@realtek.com>
> Cc: linusw@kernel.org; alsi@bang-olufsen.dk;
> dmitry.baryshkov@oss.qualcomm.com; linux-firmware@kernel.org
> Subject: RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for
> linux-firmware inclusion
> 
> 
> External mail : This email originated from outside the organization. Do not
> reply, click links, or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and
> know the content is safe.
> 
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I am the author of a patch series currently under review on netdev, adding
> SGMII/HSGMII support for the RTL8367S switch to the mainline Linux
> rtl8365mb DSA driver:
> 
> 
> https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/0100019eb0b1822e-ffc5626c-1b9f-4c8a-8a1
> a-759a9e665f4f-000000@email.amazonses.com/
> 
> Bringing up the SerDes on this chip requires loading a small firmware blob
> (1233 bytes) into the embedded DW8051 microcontroller. The driver requests
> it via the kernel firmware API as realtek/rtl8367s-sgmii.bin.
> 
> The only public source of this blob is the rtl8367c vendor SDK as distributed in
> GPL source code releases by Realtek's customers (in my case the Mercusys
> MR80X v2 GPL code drop), where it is embedded as a byte array (Sgmii_Init[]
> in rtl8367c_asicdrv_port.c).
> 
> I submitted the blob to linux-firmware:
> 
> 
> https://gitlab.com/kernel-firmware/linux-firmware/-/merge_requests/1092
> 
> but it cannot be accepted in its current state: the surrounding SDK code is
> GPL-licensed, yet the actual source code of the 8051 microcode has never
> been published, so the effective license of the blob is unclear and GPL
> compliance cannot be met by redistributing it (see review by Dmitry Baryshkov
> in the MR above).
> 
> May I ask Realtek for one of the following:
> 
>   1. Submit the firmware to linux-firmware directly, with an
>      appropriate redistribution license, as the Realtek NIC team
>      already does for the rtl_nic firmware files; or
> 
>   2. Provide an explicit license statement permitting redistribution
>      of this firmware via linux-firmware, and ACK the merge request
>      above.
> 
> If this mailbox is not the right contact for the switch product line, I would be
> very grateful if you could forward this request to the team responsible for the
> RTL8367S / rtl8367c SDK, or point me to the right contact.
> 
> Thank you for your time.
> 
> Best regards,
> Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>

RE: RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for linux-firmware inclusion

[Jeff_Hung]

+PM SC



-Jeff

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-----Original Message-----
From: Hau <hau@realtek.com> 
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2026 4:17 PM
To: Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>; Switchfae <Switchfae@realtek.com>
Cc: linusw@kernel.org; alsi@bang-olufsen.dk; dmitry.baryshkov@oss.qualcomm.com; linux-firmware@kernel.org
Subject: RE: RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for linux-firmware inclusion

+ Switch Team FAE

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>
> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2026 1:12 AM
> To: nic_swsd <nic_swsd@realtek.com>
> Cc: linusw@kernel.org; alsi@bang-olufsen.dk; 
> dmitry.baryshkov@oss.qualcomm.com; linux-firmware@kernel.org
> Subject: RTL8367S DW8051 SerDes firmware: license clarification for 
> linux-firmware inclusion
> 
> 
> External mail : This email originated from outside the organization. 
> Do not reply, click links, or open attachments unless you recognize 
> the sender and know the content is safe.
> 
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I am the author of a patch series currently under review on netdev, 
> adding SGMII/HSGMII support for the RTL8367S switch to the mainline 
> Linux rtl8365mb DSA driver:
> 
> 
> https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/0100019eb0b1822e-ffc5626c-1b9f-4c8a-8a1
> a-759a9e665f4f-000000@email.amazonses.com/
> 
> Bringing up the SerDes on this chip requires loading a small firmware 
> blob
> (1233 bytes) into the embedded DW8051 microcontroller. The driver 
> requests it via the kernel firmware API as realtek/rtl8367s-sgmii.bin.
> 
> The only public source of this blob is the rtl8367c vendor SDK as 
> distributed in GPL source code releases by Realtek's customers (in my 
> case the Mercusys MR80X v2 GPL code drop), where it is embedded as a 
> byte array (Sgmii_Init[] in rtl8367c_asicdrv_port.c).
> 
> I submitted the blob to linux-firmware:
> 
> 
> https://gitlab.com/kernel-firmware/linux-firmware/-/merge_requests/109
> 2
> 
> but it cannot be accepted in its current state: the surrounding SDK 
> code is GPL-licensed, yet the actual source code of the 8051 microcode 
> has never been published, so the effective license of the blob is 
> unclear and GPL compliance cannot be met by redistributing it (see 
> review by Dmitry Baryshkov in the MR above).
> 
> May I ask Realtek for one of the following:
> 
>   1. Submit the firmware to linux-firmware directly, with an
>      appropriate redistribution license, as the Realtek NIC team
>      already does for the rtl_nic firmware files; or
> 
>   2. Provide an explicit license statement permitting redistribution
>      of this firmware via linux-firmware, and ACK the merge request
>      above.
> 
> If this mailbox is not the right contact for the switch product line, 
> I would be very grateful if you could forward this request to the team 
> responsible for the RTL8367S / rtl8367c SDK, or point me to the right contact.
> 
> Thank you for your time.
> 
> Best regards,
> Johan Alvarado <contact@c127.dev>