Guido Trotter wrote: > The code for ipw2100 is free software. To load the driver you'll need a > firmware which is non-free and subject to an EULA (for details see > http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/firmware.php?fid=2). Debian cannot thus > distribute this thing (the firmware), neither in main nor in non-free. > > Now the point is: the source code itself doesn't need the firmware to > be built, but the resulting modules are completely useless without it. > > So should this package go in contrib, or is it allowed to stay in main?
If the modules without the firmware are usable for any hardware (such as a version of the hardware that has the firmware permanently stored in it), the modules can stay in main, since at least some users can use it without installing non-free software. If the modules cannot operate any piece of hardware without the non-free firmware, the modules must go in contrib. - Josh Triplett
