[gNewSense-users] this is not the blob you are expecting

[Paul O'Malley - gnu's not unix -]

Hi,

binary large object

when you find this within source code but without corresponding source 
you have found a blob ..

very, very simple

if it contravenes the four freedoms happy scalpel use and removal

This leads me to a set of thoughts I have been having about the "removed 
code".

Perhaps there is room while doing this removal to inform the "copyright 
holder" for that block of code or submitter in the first case that it is 
on the way out .... your call.

To this end I would suggest that a "sane" standard letter is composed 
and then used by someone or a "function" which is several people, who 
then try to find authors or copyright holders to try to get the source.

If this is done in a really polite way if may actually help the cause 
because people would be informing the developers and development company 
 that submitted the code that their hardware is actually useless to 
users of GNU/Linux systems.

This task would include people trying to find someone within the company 
or its successor in interest to go and release the code, or perhaps 
better yet to actually be active when it comes to kernel supply.

The approach is not so much saying "YOU ARE WRONG" as saying, did you 
realise that there was more to supplying code.

Then if the block of code is not provided at least an audit trail of who 
was contacted and what the motivation for contacting this particular party.

This work would require people to be discrete as you may not get what 
you want straight away, you might contact the wrong person but stumble 
up the right one later, thus you don't want to leave burning bridges 
behind you. (I.E. This is a political mission which may have real source 
code impact so should be done in a calm cool way.) It would most likely 
be very frustrating for those involved but if tackled in a polite way 
maybe upstream would benefit, eventually benefiting the whole community.

Just because I had the idea does not mean that I want to be active with 
it. If I was doing it I would look at things which have been added last 
to the "tainted" kernel.

If so after doing some preparation perhaps this should be placed under 
the guardianship of the: Workgroup for fully free GNU/Linux 
distributions <address@hidden>



Regards,

Paul