Kernel-firmware package and Anaconda.

[Alan Cox]

On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:23:14 +0200
Bram_Gro <Bram_Gro at lavabit.com> wrote:

> So the only thing that needs to be done to create a completely open 
> source Fedora system, is adding the kernel-firmware package to 
> yum.config exclusion list, so it wont be installed during kernel updates?

And one assumes reflash your BIOS with your own code, as well as the in
ROM firmware on your graphics cards etc.

There is a real question about at what point you decide something is or
isn't "too dependant" on something proprietary - you have ROM firmware
running on other CPUs, ROM based BIOS type code running on the main CPU,
CPU microcode, RAM based (downloaded) firmware onto other processors, and
RAM based host CPU stuff without source (aka proprietary applications,
naughty drivers etc)

Where you draw that line (both morally and legally) is non-trivial,
especially for the notion of "free software" as opposed to the rather
looser idea of "open source"

Firmware is a very tricky one. If you take downloaded microcode for
some other CPU on the system some would argue its better to have it
binary than in ROM as the device is then hackable, others the reverse.

Alan