Fedora Freedom and linux-libre

[jeff]

Anders Karlsson wrote:
> * jeff <moe at blagblagblag.org> [20080618 17:50]:
> [snip]
>> ...  more pages of hex
>>
>>
>> I personally downloaded this file believing that I was getting a free GPL 
>> driver. Broadcom says so in the patch itself, in the included LICENSE 
>> file, and their website when you click to download it. Red Hat is 
>> shipping it as GPLv2. So either they have to provide the source (if they 
>> have it), stop shipping it, or *at least* stop saying they are shipping a 
>> GPLv2 kernel if they are unwilling/unable to provide the source.
> 
> You missed the discussion where it was pointed out that some firmware
> is written in hex directly, as there is no compiler. Good luck with
> demanding the source to that dude...




   ---->   "Derived from proprietary unpublished source code"  <----



linux-2.6.25/drivers/net/tg3.c:

/*
  * tg3.c: Broadcom Tigon3 ethernet driver.
  *
  * Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 David S. Miller (davem at redhat.com)
  * Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003 Jeff Garzik (jgarzik at pobox.com)
  * Copyright (C) 2004 Sun Microsystems Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2005-2007 Broadcom Corporation.
  *
  * Firmware is:
  *      Derived from proprietary unpublished source code,
  *      Copyright (C) 2000-2003 Broadcom Corporation.
  *
  *      Permission is hereby granted for the distribution of this firmware
  *      data in hexadecimal or equivalent format, provided this copyright
  *      notice is accompanying it.
  */



tg3.c is the example I have been using all along.


Of course actually getting Red Hat or Broadcom to turn it over wouldn't be 
easy. Broadcom has some legal issues of their own right now, heh.

-Jeff