On Fri, May 14, 2004 at 08:01:51PM -0400, Nathanael Nerode wrote: Hi,
> >> 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. > > Um, "what he said", just so you know it's not just his opinion. > I think there's consensus on this; it's basically what 'contrib' was > invented for. > Thanks for the clarification... So, since there is no hardware that can be operated by this driver without its proprietary firmware (at least from what the upstream site says[1]) I'm raising the severity of this bug to "serious"... Thanks, Guido [1] http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/ tells the firmware is a requirement, and doesn't list any exception
