Re: non-free firmware in kernel modules, aggregation and unclear copyright notice.

Adrian Bunk
2005-04-08T18:02:39Z

On Fri, Apr 08, 2005 at 07:42:51PM +0200, Josselin Mouette wrote:
> Le vendredi 08 avril 2005 à 19:34 +0200, Adrian Bunk a écrit :
> > > When there are several possible interpretations, you have to pick up the
> > > more conservative one, as it's not up to us to make the interpretation,
> > > but to a court.
> >
> > If Debian was at least consistent.
> >
> > Why has Debian a much more liberal interpretation of MP3 patent issues
> > than RedHat?
>
> Because we already know that patents on MP3 decoders are not
> enforceable. Furthermore, the holders of these patents have repeatedly

How do you know the patents aren't enforceable?

> stated they won't ask for fees on MP3 decoders.

http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/index.html

talks about 0.75 Dollar for a decoder.

> > How do you install Debian on a harddisk behind a SCSI controller who's
> > driver was removed from the Debian kernels due to it's firmware?
>
> Which SCSI controller are you talking about?

Quoting README.Debian of the Debian kernel sources:

<-- snip -->

* QLA2XXX firmware, driver disabled:
. drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/*_fw.c

<-- snip -->

There are a few other SCSI controllers where even the Debian kernel
sources still ship both the drivers and the firmware. I do not claim to
understand the latter...

> > > Being careless in the definition of "free software" is a real disservice
> > > to users. It makes them rely on e.g. non-free documentation for everyday
> > > use.
> > >...
> >
> > Documentation is "software"?
>
> Sure.

Every book in my book shelf is software?

That doesn't match how people outside of Debian use the word "software".

> > Non-free documentation is better than no documentation.
> >
> > Non-free software has several problems, but some of them like the right
> > to do modifications are less important for documentation, since e.g.
> > fixes for security bugs are not an issue.
> >
> > Removing the available documentation without an equal replacement is a
> > real disserve for your users.
>
> GFDL documentation will still be available in the non-free archive.

Assuming you have an online connection and a friend told you how to
manually edit your /etc/apt/sources.list for non-free.

But where's the documentation if you don't have an online connection but
only the dozen binary CDs of Debian?

cu
Adrian

--

"Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
"Only a promise," Lao Er said.
Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed