Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:28:01 -0400 | From | Jeff Garzik <> | Subject | Re: non-free firmware in kernel modules, aggregation and unclear copyright notice. |
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Josselin Mouette wrote: > Finally, you shouldn't forget that, technically speaking, using hotplug > for uploading the firmware is much more flexible and elegant than > including it in the kernel. Upgrading the firmware and the module should > be two independent operations. People who are advocating the current > situation are refusing technical improvements just because they are > brought by people they find convenient to call "zealots".
This is highly amusing, coming from someone who does not maintain a driver with a firmware.
The current firmware infrastructure is too primitive. Compiling the firmware into the driver is much easier on the driver maintainers and users, presently.
Repeating myself,
* Most firmwares are a -collection- of images and data. The firmware infrastructure should load an -archive- of firmwares and associated data values.
* The firmware distribution infrastructure is basically non-existent. There is no standard way to make sure that a firmware separated from the driver gets to all users.
* The firmware bundling infrastructure is basically non-existent. (Arjan talked about this) There needs to be a a way to ensure that the needed firmwares are automatically added to initramfs/initrd.
* There is no chicken-and-egg problem as Arjan mentions. Once the above technical problems are resolved, its trivial to apply a firmware loading patch. I believe in hard transitions, not shipping tg3 with firmware -and- a firmware loading patch.
* Firmwares such as tg3 should be shipped with the kernel tarball.
In short, there are plenty of technical problems to resolve before this is even a reasonable request. Currently, a user upgrading to a tg3 sans firmware will simply get tg3 sans firmware.
Jeff
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