GNU Linux-libre 4.0-gnu is now available

[Alexandre Oliva]

GNU Linux-libre 4.0-gnu sources and tarballs are now available at
http://linuxlibre.org/pub/linux-libre/releases/4.0-gnu.  There were no
deblobbing changes since the last -rc.

There weren't very many deblobbing changes needed for this release.
Aside from the usual assortment of false positives, the nouveau tree was
significantly reorganized, which made up the bulk of the changes to the
deblobbing scripts.

Aside from that, two new drivers appeared to require deblobbing, but in
the end they were mostly fine:

- the driver for the Cyapa I2C trackpad allows users to initiate
firmware updates, supplying a filename through IIRC a /sys interface.  I
could not locate firmware for it to check licensing terms and source
code availability, but we don't normally disable this sort of request:
it is user initiated, and the filename is supplied by the user, so it
has no potential for inducing the installation of non-Free Software.
So, the only cleaning up of this driver was an unused default (?) blob
(?)  filename, apparently a left-over from a different blob update
strategy or somesuch.  Just in case the code is changed to use it in
future releases ;-)

- The IIO driver for the Samsung ssp_sensors sensorhub also contains
filenames that appear to refer to pieces of firmware, also presumably
non-Free (I couldn't locate them either), but I couldn't find any actual
uses of the filenames.  I've also conservatively cleaned them up.

And that was it.  No new mandatory blobs and one fewer blob-demanding
driver (the deprecated tlg2300 driver was removed upstream) is a good
thing, right, so let's celebrate GNU Linux-libre 4.0-gnu!


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Be Free! with GNU Linux-libre.


WHAT IS GNU Linux-libre?

  GNU Linux-libre is a Free version of the kernel Linux (see below),
  suitable for use with the GNU Operating System in 100% Free
  GNU/Linux-libre System Distributions.
  http://www.gnu.org/distros/

  It removes non-Free components from Linux, that are disguised as
  source code or distributed in separate files.  It also disables
  run-time requests for non-Free components, shipped separately or as
  part of Linux, and documentation pointing to them, so as to avoid
  (Free-)baiting users into the trap of non-Free Software.
  http://www.fsfla.org/anuncio/2010-11-Linux-2.6.36-libre-debait

  Linux-libre started within the gNewSense GNU/Linux distribution.
  It was later adopted by Jeff Moe, who coined its name, and in 2008
  it became a project maintained by FSF Latin America.  In 2012, it
  became part of the GNU Project.

  The GNU Linux-libre project takes a minimal-changes approach to
  cleaning up Linux, making no effort to substitute components that
  need to be removed with functionally equivalent Free ones.
  Nevertheless, we encourage and support efforts towards doing so.
  http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LinuxLibre:Devices_that_require_non-free_firmware

  Our mascot is Freedo, a light-blue penguin that has just come out
  of the shower.  Although we like penguins, GNU is a much greater
  contribution to the entire system, so its mascot deserves more
  promotion.  See our web page for their images.
  http://linux-libre.fsfla.org/

WHAT IS LINUX?

  Linux is a clone of the Unix kernel [...]

(snipped from the README in the source distribution of GNU Linux-libre)


-- 
Alexandre Oliva, freedom fighter    http://FSFLA.org/~lxoliva/
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi
Be Free! -- http://FSFLA.org/   FSF Latin America board member
Free Software Evangelist|Red Hat Brasil GNU Toolchain Engineer