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

Brian Gerst
2005-04-05T20:34:41Z

Jeff Garzik wrote:
> Josselin Mouette wrote:
>
>> Finally, you shouldn't forget that, technically speaking, using hotplug
>> for uploading the firmware is much more flexible and elegant than
>> including it in the kernel. Upgrading the firmware and the module should
>> be two independent operations. People who are advocating the current
>> situation are refusing technical improvements just because they are
>> brought by people they find convenient to call "zealots".
>
>
> This is highly amusing, coming from someone who does not maintain a
> driver with a firmware.
>
> The current firmware infrastructure is too primitive. Compiling the
> firmware into the driver is much easier on the driver maintainers and
> users, presently.
>
> Repeating myself,
>
> * Most firmwares are a -collection- of images and data. The firmware
> infrastructure should load an -archive- of firmwares and associated data
> values.

The firmware interface should only be concerned with getting the blob of
data into kernel space. Once it is in kernel space the driver can parse
out whatever archive format it is in. Take for example the ihex code
that was posted recently. Similar code could be written to parse out a
tarball, cpio archive, etc.

--
Brian Gerst