Hi, I have a naive question about binary firmware in Debian. I appreciate your patience with me!
I just noticed a new package in squeeze, firmware-linux, which contains the binary firmware that was formerly included in Debian kernels. I'm glad to see that it has been pulled out, so that we can decide for ourselves if we need or want it on our systems, at least when the next kernel update makes it's way into testing. What I want to know is what kinds of problems I might experience when I move to a 'free' kernel? Are these problems easily discoverable when I switch? I'm most concerned about two possibilities - my system becomes inoperable due to some dependency on binary firmware; or the absence of the firmware introduces some subtle change that may cause headaches without providing a clear indication that the lack of firmware is the source of the problem. Any explanations would be welcome, Thanks, Tyler ps. I'm running Squeeze on a Thinkpad R60, but I'm interested in the general case as well. -- I have no "intellectual property," and I think that all claimants to such property are thieves. --Wendell Berry http://home.btconnect.com/tipiglen/resist.html -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org