On Thursday 16 November 2006 16:59, you wrote: > I believe what he means by a completely open platform for the Wi-fi > would include the firmware. These drivers might be open source but the > firmware on the hardware itself is not open. To fit in with the mold of > the rest of this project it would need to be completely open end-end.
Both the GSM and GPS module have proprietary firmware inside from what I understand and some would even argue that the microcode in many ICs is firmware as well... I'm not sure if it is just FUD by the WiFi manufacturers, but there have been claims that RF chipsets (not even just WiFi) with open *firmware* would not be certified by the FCC and related bodies for fear of people (ab)using other frequencies than those allocated for general use. I guess it comes down to how you view the WiFi chip: it could be either an appliance you use to connect to WLANs (like the GSM chip is one to talk to the GSM tower) or it might be a more generally useable RF chip whose use for other things than WiFi may or may not legal depending on your jurisdiction. Personally I'd be very content with an appliance though more freedom obviously never hurts. _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/community
