Thomas Bushnell BSG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Huh? I'm not saying I pretend it isn't there. Do I want to modify > the source code? No, because there's nothing I could do with it if I > could.
I had to modify my BIOS in order to get my laptop to work with my wireless card. This would have been rather a lot easier if I'd had the source code. > "If software of class X is distributed sometimes burned into hardware, > then Debian should distribute other software of class X, even if it > isn't free, for different hardware." I would say that "If software of class X is distributed sometimes burned into hardware, then Debian distributing other software of class X would not have a significant impact upon the rights of our users". As far as freedom is concerned, both types are equivilently bad. The choice is either: 1) Distribute the non-free firmware. Our users are happy. 2) Don't distribute the non-free firmware. Our users either download the non-free firmware from elsewhere (bad) or replace their hardware with parts that have the non-free firmware in flash (worse - no improvement in freedom, and we've made them waste money and material) When people actually get around to a decent "Free firmware" campaign, then I think we'll have a stronger argument for not distributing firmware. At the moment, the non-freeness of firmware isn't something that seems to bother most people (even if they're passionate about free software). -- Matthew Garrett | [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
