On 07/12/14 21:32, Brad Smith wrote:
> On 12/07/14 05:18, Riley Baird wrote:
>> On 07/12/14 20:52, Otto Moerbeek wrote:
>>> On Sun, Dec 07, 2014 at 08:29:48PM +1100, Riley Baird wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 07/12/14 20:20, Dmitrij D. Czarkoff wrote:
>>>>> Riley Baird said:
>>>>>> As for why I want to create the distro, I think that OpenBSD has
>>>>>> excellent security, and I would like to create a version without the
>>>>>> binary-only microcode included.
>>>>>
>>>>> Isn't it easier to just do
>>>>>
>>>>> # cd /mnt/etc; tar czf firmware{.tgz,}; rm -R firmware
>>>>>
>>>>> from bsd.rd after installer exits?
>>>>
>>>> Yes, it definitely would be. You'd also need to change the installer
>>>> script such that fw_update is not run on first boot. I've removed the
>>>> firmware from my own system already. Also, it would be nice to be able
>>>> to build the source tree without requiring the firmware files to exist.
>>>>
>>>> However, remember that if someone doesn't know much about OpenBSD, they
>>>> will either: a) think that OpenBSD does not contain binary-only
>>>> firmware
>>>> due to the "Blob-Busters" marketing or b) not know where to look to
>>>> remove it should they wish to
>>>
>>> The blobs we do not like are pieces of code running inside the kernel.
>>>
>>> Code running on a device is a completely different category.
>>
>> True, but the press releases never even mentioned the microcode, which
>> is kind of confusing given the normal usage of the word "binary blob".
>
> "Blobs are vendor-compiled binary drivers without any source code."
>
> That couldn't be more clear what the projects meaning of blobs is.
> Microcode won't be mentioned when it is already pretty clear what the
> meaning is. Nothing to be confused about there at all. That is your
> interpretation of the meaning and not the common use.
Since I interpreted the meaning incorrectly, it is likely that others
did as well. In any case, I'm sure that we can all agree that ideally
the microcode would come with source. Some people are going to take that
idealism further, and decide not to use the microcode. I don't see the
harm in helping these people, whether it be through a derivative distro,
or even a question in the installation scripts. (I wrote a patch for an
installer question a couple of months ago, if you're interested.)
