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policy: link to steve's debian firmware article

hslick-master
Leah Rowe 2022-11-25 14:20:40 +00:00
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@ -296,7 +296,9 @@ The FSF maintains another set of criteria, dubbed Free System Distribution
Guidelines (GNU FSDG)] Guidelines (GNU FSDG)]
The FSDG criteria is separate from RYF, but has similar problems. FSDG is The FSDG criteria is separate from RYF, but has similar problems. FSDG is
what the FSF-endorsed GNU+Linux distros comply with. Thoughts: what the FSF-endorsed GNU+Linux distros comply with. Basically, it bans
all proprietary software, including device firmware. This may seem noble, but
it's extremely problematic in the context of firmware. Food for thought:
* Excluding firmware blobs in the linux kernel is *bad*. Proprietary firmware * Excluding firmware blobs in the linux kernel is *bad*. Proprietary firmware
is *also bad*. Including them is a wiser choice, if strong education is also is *also bad*. Including them is a wiser choice, if strong education is also
@ -333,7 +335,15 @@ system. They tell you how to do it, which means that they are helping people
to get *some* freedom *rather than none*. This is an inherently pragmatic to get *some* freedom *rather than none*. This is an inherently pragmatic
way to do things, and it's now how Libreboot does it. way to do things, and it's now how Libreboot does it.
OpenBSD is very much the same, but they go a step further: during the initial More context regarding Debian is available in this blog post:
<https://blog.einval.com/2022/04/19#firmware-what-do-we-do> - in it, the
author, a prominent Debian developer, makes excellent points about device
firmware similar to the (Libreboot) article that you're reading now. It's
worth a read! As of October 2022, Debian has voted to include device firmware
by *default*, in following Debian releases. It used to be that Debian excluded
such firmware, but allowed you to add it.
OpenBSD is very much the same, but they're clever about it: during the initial
boot, after installation, it tells you exactly what firmware is needed and boot, after installation, it tells you exactly what firmware is needed and
updates that for you. It's handled in a very transparent way, by updates that for you. It's handled in a very transparent way, by
their `fw_update` program which you can read about here: their `fw_update` program which you can read about here: