Re: [Buildroot] [PATCH 1/1] package/dvb-firmware: new package

[Thomas Petazzoni via buildroot <buildroot@buildroot.org>]

Hello,

On Mon, 26 Dec 2022 19:03:53 +0100
Bernd Kuhls <bernd.kuhls@t-online.de> wrote:

> Signed-off-by: Bernd Kuhls <bernd.kuhls@t-online.de>

Do we know why these firmware files are not part of the linux-firmware
project? They are needed in conjunction with which kernel drivers?

> +DVB_FIRMWARE_VERSION = 1.4.2
> +DVB_FIRMWARE_SITE = $(call github,LibreELEC,dvb-firmware,$(DVB_FIRMWARE_VERSION))
> +DVB_FIRMWARE_LICENSE = PROPRIETARY
> +DVB_FIRMWARE_REDISTRIBUTE = NO

This DVB_FIRMWARE_REDISTRIBUTE = NO is not good, as it would actually
encourage people to violate the license of those firmware files. Indeed
what DVB_FIRMWARE_REDISTRIBUTE = NO says is "to not mention this
package in the manifest" and "do not copy the license files". However,
several license files in dvb-firmware explicitly *require* that the
license file should be distributed.

Quoting from LICENCE.go7007:

=====
The firmware files included in the firmware/ directory may be freely
redistributed only in conjunction with this document; but modification,
tampering and reverse engineering are prohibited.
=====

Quoting from LICENCE.xc5000

=====
// Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software, only
// for use with Xceive ICs, for any purpose with or without fee is hereby
// granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission
// notice appear in all source code copies.
=====

Quoting from LICENCE.siano

=====
* Redistributions must reproduce the above copyright notice and the
following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
provided with the distribution.
=====

If we want to create a package for this properly, we need to have a
mapping between the firmware files and the specific license file that
applies to them, so that we know which conditions apply to which
firmware file. As it is done today in this Github repo, it looks like
some firmware files are random binaries from the Internet, with no
clear licensing... which makes their redistribution not legal.

Thomas
-- 
Thomas Petazzoni, co-owner and CEO, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering and training
https://bootlin.com
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