Rafael Almeida escribis:
Hello,
>From time to time I see people debating about blobs on kernels. I have
some understanding of the issue, but it seems that everytime some
issue comes out that I was not aware of. Not too recently I've seen a
discussion regarding intel wireless device, people from linux seem to
say it doesn't require blobs, though some openbsd users sugested
otherwise. Linux people even refered to some sourceforge link, I think
http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/firmware.php was it. I believe there
are some problems when it comes to firmware. In that sense, is there
even wireless hardware that have no need for any kind of blob?
A while ago I've seen theo slides about how hardware vendors do not
suply the customer with documentation needed for him to operate the
hardware any way he wants. That is a major problem because it does not
let the user chose which operating system he will use. Now, couldn't
the firmware be considered part of the hardware? Why need it be free?
You can program the hardware without knowing about it, right?
Is there some hardware manufacturer that's actually concerned with the
customer's freedom? I know some of them eventually release some
documentation, but are there any hardware vendor which has providing
documentation as one of its goals?
I know this is not enterily on topic, but I was looking for a mature
open source comunity that's willing to discuss those matters with me.
I hope I have found such comunity and I hope not to see too many (or
not at all) aswers like 'linux just sucks' and the like (unless the
phrase comes with proper justification, of course :-)).
I'm also interested about open/closed firmwares. I think that if a
hardware vendor decides to NOT open firmware (wich could be considered
as part of the product) it should advise the customer really clear. When
I buy hardware I like to use it with OpenBSD and don't want to be
looking for compatibility/firmware provider lists before.
-Jesus
