Messages in this thread | | | Date | Mon, 16 Oct 2000 08:29:37 -0700 (PDT) | From | Andre Hedrick <> | Subject | Re: Device Driver |
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On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, John Alvord wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Oct 2000 14:45:03 +0200 (CEST), Igmar Palsenberg > <maillist@chello.nl> wrote: > > > > >> >I presume your driver doesn't mind if this image is unavailable. > >> >If not, you'll need to provide a open source image to use in place > >> >of your proprietary one. > >> > >> Linus, please confirm. > >> > >> Firmware for cards can be proprietary. It can either be installed by a > >> userspace utility on startup (nothing to do with the kernel) or it can > >> be installed by the kernel driver for the card during initialization. > >> In the latter case, the image must be supplied in text format and > >> converted to binary, no binary files in the kernel tarball. > > > >Every closed source piece of software is unacceptable in a standard kernel > >: > > > >-hh We can't debug it > >- We depend on the guys / girls that maintain the binary image > >- It's a security risk. > > > Aren't there other examples where firmware is supplied in a struct > which is initialized to the needed binary values? Seems like Linux > doesn't need every bit of source (probably for some completely other > processor or ASIC, maybe written in FORTH) included as part of the > kernel.
This is different by a shade. It would be one thing to have a struct with BINARY code to load that was in a GPL C file, the other is having a binary-image that is attached/linked to a kernel. Lastly if this if never going to be a device that is needed until the completion of the kernel launch, then it is a DGD, 'don't give a damn'. Because we can insert a stripping probe and convert the image to something that is usable and safe.
If it is a firmware image, put another fpga on it and store it there.
Cheers,
Andre Hedrick The Linux ATA/IDE guy
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