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>>>>> Praveen A writes:
Praveen> 2008/5/28 Ashish Shukla आशीष शुक्ल <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>> . But do you care if you don't have to
>> flash firmware from the software, but rather it is pre-programmed into
>> the hardware. And what difference does it make, from firmware being
>> loaded at runtime, or flashed at the time of manufacture ?
Praveen> When it is loaded at runtime, the manufacturer has the ability to
Praveen> modify but you don't have it. That is they restrict your freedom to
Praveen> modify while keeping theirs - does not pass on all the freedoms
Praveen> required by GPL. If it is pre-programmed into the hardware the
Praveen> manufacturer is not in a position to change it - so he is passing
on
Praveen> all the freedoms he has got to you. Empowering user is what Free
Praveen> Software is all about (this may not be the case if you are talking
Praveen> about Open Source, which is about creating powerful and reliable
Praveen> software).
I think you're right, but there're so many devices which requires
firmware to be uploaded at runtime. I never thought that my Intel
ethernet card requires a non-free binary blob to function properly. I
thought I am running a complete free software (binary blob-free except
BIOS) based system. Anyways, I've switched to use Realtek NIC although
I'm still using a _cheap_ Yamaha sound card, which requires binary blob
:( .
Anyways, initially OpenBSD tried to advocate against use of binary
blobs, but atm, they're also shipping with these binary blob based
drivers.
Anyways, how about listing some hardware (like NICs, Sound Cards,
Printers, etc.) which requires binary blobs at some wiki, hmm...?
Thanks for enlightening me...
- --
Ashish Shukla आशीष शुक्ल http://wahjava.wordpress.com/
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