Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Wiki list move

[Brett Smith]

On Wed, 2009-12-09 at 10:48 +0200, A.J. Venter wrote:
> Small problem - I think the bcm-utility packages may actually need to
> be removed, or at least expanded. Most distro's only ship the fwcutter
> but this is part of a bigger source package with a number of tools
> including a compiler/decompiler for broadcom firmware and such.
> The main reason I point this out is that these additional utilities
> have a major use outside of installing non-free firmware, specifically
> they are needed to build the free reverse-engineered firmware for the
> same cards. Having the fwcutter in a package that is actually
> installed to get those other tools so you can build the free firmware
> is certainly a valid things for a free distro.

Let me make sure I'm understanding all this correctly: the packages
coming from the upstream distros include a variety of different tools
for dealing with Broadcom cards.  All these tools are free, and some of
them are necessary to build free firmware for the cards, but at least
one other tool in the package -- fwcutter -- is *only* useful for
working with proprietary firmware.

If that is all correct, then it sounds like the ideal solution would be
to prepare new packages that include all the tools except fwcutter.
Then users could easily get the tools they need to build the free
drivers, without being nudged toward proprietary firmware through
fwcutter.

If I've misunderstood something and this doesn't fix the problem -- or
if this is really hard for some reason -- let me know and we can work
something out.  Otherwise, I think we can make this the recommended
solution on the list.

This is another part of the reason I wanted to stop calling this page
the "blacklist."  So far, it's been common to remove packages wholesale
when we find that they include problematic software.  That's
understandable when there's not much manpower, but it doesn't have to be
that way.  If people are willing to put in the time and effort to make
more targeted patches -- to remove only one problematic program, or even
patch it so it's not problematic anymore -- we would be happy to see
that happen.  There might be low-hanging fruit here for interested
contributors to work on -- feel free to get the word out.  :)

-- 
Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer, Free Software Foundation

Support the FSF by becoming an Associate Member: http://fsf.org/jf