On Sat, Mar 26, 2005 at 11:44:17PM -0800, Thomas Bushnell BSG wrote: > One reason for the DFSG's modifiability and source requirements is to > preserve our ability to fix things. I see no reason why we shouldn't > insist on that for firmware just as we do for openoffice.org.
You don't have that freedom now. Your PC is full of firmware that you don't have source to, probably can't change and probably can't recompile anyway. It's your motherboard BIOS, it's in your hard drive, SCSI controller, SATA controller, video card, ADSL/cable modem, your CRT or LCD monitor and also your CPU. Don't you want to modify the source code for those too? I hear you saying "but Debian doesn't distribute that software so it's OK". No need to bother repeating it. I don't see how it changes anything; you still don't have the source code. But if it's in EEPROM or FLASH on the device you just pretend it isn't there because it makes you feel better. Hamish -- Hamish Moffatt VK3SB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
