On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 09:39:46AM +0000, Matthew Garrett wrote: > Glenn Maynard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 02:37:45AM +0000, Matthew Garrett wrote: > >> Glenn Maynard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >> > No, there's a very concrete reason: given an installation of Debian > >> > main, the driver works. Drivers that require non-free firmware don't > >> > work out of the box; > >> > >> The vast, vast majority of drivers require non-free firmware. > > > > Hmm. A few places to draw the "dependency from driver to firmware" > > line seem to be: > > No, that's not what you said. There's some room to quibble over whether > a dependency exists - there's no room to quibble over whether a > requirement exists. Almost all modern hardware either contains firmware > or requires firmware to be uploaded. Therefore, almost all drivers > require firmware, since otherwise the hardware they drive would not > exist. > > Please, let's be honest about what requirements software has.
Sorry, but I don't see a distinction between the word "depend" and "require" in this context, and I don't see any reason to draw one. I see a clear difference between a driver that needs (expects, requires, depends on, you pick) its own copy of a firmware to be copied around-- subjecting users and developers to its copyright restrictions, and imposing a limitation on the ability of that driver to work out of the box--and one that does not. -- Glenn Maynard