Yes, the XO-4 will need a nonfree firmware program copied by the
operating system into the wireless device.
That is disappointing news. It means we won't be able to endorse it.
The 8686 firmware is also in the Debian
non-free package firmware-libertas.
(What a perverse name!)
These steps might be placed in the boot script of the operating system
in order to avoid nonfree infection of an operating system
distribution.
To make it ok, it would have to be buried inside the hardware such
that the user and the system don't touch it at all. It is
possible to do that, but it might take some extra hardware.
Is it possible to make the circuit such that the internal wireless
device can easily be removed or permanently disabled without breaking
the rest of the machine? If so, we could endorse machines modified in
this way.
--
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org www.gnu.org
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call
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