On Thu, 18 Aug 2022, Steve McIntyre wrote:
I'm proposing to change how we handle non-free firmware in Debian. I've written about this a few times already this year [1, 2] and I ran a session on the subject at DebConf [3].
Thanks for working on this somewhat controversial topic. I haven't spend that much time thinking about the issue yet but perhaps the following steps could help make this less controversial:
1) As it is pretty impossible to write a clear definition of firmware, we should require packages in non-free-firmware to clearly explain where the code will get executed to allow people to make informed decisions. Some people are more ok with having code run on an external device than on the main CPU. 2) Ensure that the installer will inform users about non-free-firmware packages that are about to be installed and possibly also allow the user to see their full description. 3) Ensure that the filename of the installation media includes "non-free-firmware" or something similar so that it is clear to everyone what they are getting into. Debian has had such a long history of not including non-free bits in the installation image that people will definitely be surprised if the filename does not reflect this change. 4) If at all possible, keep the fully free installation media available as was already suggested earlier. -Timo
