I actually have more 'extreme' views than RMS in regards to what should be
free.
:)
However his patience certaintly trumps mine.
The BIOS should be free. If it can be changed we should be able to fix
it/update it/improve upon it/etc. Simply moving to a read only BIOS seems
wrong even if it solves the probably 'technically'.
The writing is non-trival although so is the porting proccess.
There are some good reasons for installing an alternative BIOS even if it
isn't something one would update regularly. For instance there are some
features one might want to impliment or use that aren't otherwise available.
I can think of some good examples. If I want to connect my computer to a
network and control it remotely I may not be able to do that with the
firmware released by a motherboard manufacturer.
However I should be able to add such features in. Then I could turn the
computer on/off remotely, restart it, etc. These features actually exist I
believe in the fre BIOS project's BIOS. There is a non-free BIOS with similar
features too.
