On 2013-09-29, at 2:06 PM, Paul Sokolovsky <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:20:23 +0200 >> I seriously doubt it is that easy or even doable and my expectations >> of ever seeing a free firmware for these chips are close to zero. > > This probably gets more and more offtopic, but can you elaborate what > would be reasons for that? I obviously don't disagree, but I think that > the main reason for that is that community - at the whole, then GNU/FSF > endorsing subset, then finally those who often practice "freedom" > rhetoric - don't want free drivers *that* much. People want new Visual > Basic in the shape of JavaScript, to make it thrash and crash even on > their toaster, that's why projects like http://nodejs.org/ thrive, and > projects like OpenFWWF and > http://git.bues.ch/gitweb?p=b43-ucode.git;a=summary die.
I was recently talking to an engineer about the need for wifi, bluetooth and modem chips with open firmware for use in projects like Neo900 and Replicant. His response was: > Currently there is no way to create open hardware for Public wireless (Cell > radios) or ISM radios like Bluetooth and Wifi without paying royalties to > Qualcomm, Intel, Motorola (Google) and Nokia (Microsoft). It's not that > dsigners like me don't want to create great products like that, is that those > big companies own the patents on the physical layer of the communication > protocols and they are not only protected by the law, but also protected by > governments and special interest groups. Ryan
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