On Tue, Apr 26, 2022 at 01:27:39PM +0000, Schwibinger Michael wrote: > What is firmware? > Do I need it? > Is it dangerous?
Firmware is executable code that runs inside of a device (such as a network interface) rather than in your CPU. Many modern devices require some non-free firmware in order to perform their duties correctly. This is *especially* the case with wireless network interfaces, but also applies to video chipsets and other things. If your devices are old enough, you may not need any. If your devices are newer, you probably need some. You can check by using sudo dmesg | grep -i firmware (or any equivalent way of running dmesg as root). As for whether it's dangerous... it's kind of a pointless question. Either you trust the manufacturer of the device, who is also the author of the firmware, or you do not.
