[Trisquel-users] Re : Newbie trying to load Trisquel on Acer Computer.

[lcerf]

Firmware is software that is not executed on the CPU but on peripheral  
processors.  That software is not always "burned onto chip on the hardware":  
the kernel can send it to the peripheral.  It is a binary but the  
corresponding source code may be available under the terms of a free license.  
 Unfortunately, it is an exception  (e.g., ath9k_htc) rather than the rule.