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Update On OpenBSD Firmware Activism

Posted by Hemos on from the more-then-one-side-to-a-story dept.

putko writes "Here's an update on the OpenBSD firmware activism. Basically, Intel says no. Plenty of contact info, in case you want to write someone an email or a phone call. As Theo writes, 'Without these firmware files included in OpenBSD, users must go do some click-through license at some web site to get at the files. Without those files, these devices are just bits of metal, plastic, and sand.'" While I applaud the notion behind Freer distribution (as in beer) it's also highly probable that Intel doesn't have much ground make them freer - we've seen this before on machines like the HP nw8000; basically, the wireless stuff is owned by someone else, licensed by Intel. That's not to say that the fight isn't worth fighting for freer distribution - it is. But if you want to make your voice heard, remember to be effective advocate.

6 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What firmware exactly? by linuxci · · Score: 3, Funny

    Come on... that'd make the article slightly useful to the readers and therefore might risk an increase in useful and informative comments.

  2. Amonkeysayshuh? by Minwee · · Score: 5, Funny
    "While I applaud the notion behind Freer distribution (as in speech) it's also highly probable that Intel doesn't have much ground make them freer - we've seen this before on machines like the HP nw8000; basically, the wireless stuff is owned by someone else, licensed by Intel."

    Is that supposed to be a sentence, or has Hemos been playing around with the Monkey / Shakespeare Simulator again?

    1. Re:Amonkeysayshuh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "Freer distribution (as in beer)"
      What is the term for other option? Freech (as in speech)?

  3. If the BSD people want... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Intel to speak to them, they are going to need a medium.

  4. PETA's and Democratic activists' method? by mi · · Score: 2, Funny
    How about scantily-clad geek-girls on Times Square and other popular public places with the 'Open Firmware!' written on their panties?..

    No? Ah, well, just a thought...

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  5. The Tao of Programming by ddent · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Hardware met Software on the road to Changtse. Software said: ``You are Yin and I am Yang. If we travel together we will become famous and earn vast sums of money.'' And so the set forth together, thinking to conquer the world.

    Presently they met Firmware, who was dressed in tattered rags and hobbled along propped on a thorny stick. Firmware said to them: ``The Tao lies beyond Yin and Yang. It is silent and still as a pool of water. It does not seek fame, therefore nobody knows its presence. It does not seek fortune, for it is complete within itself. It exists beyond space and time.''

    Software and Hardware, ashamed, returned to their homes.
    "
    (Credit: Tao of Programming)

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