Peter Van Eynde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Brian Thomas Sniffen wrote: >> Some firmware is part of the hardware. Some isn't. It's easy to tell >> -- either it's in the hardware or it isn't. Of course, the name >> "firmware" should make it clear that this is an often ambiguous line. >> But this does seem to be a good practical place: can anybody with the >> device and the driver use it? Or are there some people who even with >> a functioning, complete device and a driver who can't get it to work? > > This is not only a feature of a device with firmware. Some hardware > you cannot buy, you only get a license to use it. If I remember > correctly you never "buy" an EMC, you only get permission to use it > and have to pay every year to continue to use it. > > So you want to rip out all fiber-channel drivers because they might be > used to connect to an EMC?
No. They have useful functionality in connecting to other fiber-channel devices. Open standards are a nice thing. The fiber-channel devices have no dependency on the EMC hardware -- and even if they did, Debian doesn't express dependencies on hardware in its packaging system. >>>I see no limitation of my freedom in using firmware. Please tell me >>>how I am limited in my freedom. If I wanted a open source firmware I >>>could buy a device with open firmware, >> Then Windows isn't proprietary either. Sigh. > > It is, but does the fact that I can boot it with grub limit my freedom? Of course not -- and grub can boot Linux or the Hurd, too. So Grub has no dependency on Windows. -Brian -- Brian Sniffen [EMAIL PROTECTED]