From lxoliva at fsfla.org Mon Nov 13 01:24:32 2017 From: lxoliva at fsfla.org (Alexandre Oliva) Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2017 23:24:32 -0200 Subject: GNU Linux-libre 4.14-gnu: -ENOFIRMWARE is now available Message-ID: GNU Linux-libre 4.14-gnu sources and tarballs are now available at . It didn't require any deblobbing changes since -rc6-gnu. Binaries are expected to show up over the next few days. The biggest change in this release is that the firmware subtree was removed upstream (thus the codename -ENOFIRMWARE), removing from the Linux kernel distribution a few pieces of Free firmware, and a number of non-Free ones. Alas, there are still a few pieces of non-Free firmware remaining in Linux 4.14; hopefully this problem will be addressed in a future release, and Linux will then be Free Software again. For the time being, it still requires some cleaning up to be Free Software, and plenty of additional cleaning up to meet the GNU Free Software Distribution Guidelines. The larger problem, that several drivers in Linux will not work at all unless you provide them with pieces of proprietary software, is not affected by this move: the drivers still refuse to work, a number of them for no good reason, and the non-Free firmware is still demanded by the upstream drivers, it is just distributed separately. This avoids legal problems for distributors of the kernel Linux, who refrain from distributing the non-Free firmware. However, that a number of drivers and corresponding firwmare are updated in lockstep suggests that they might actually be a single program, in spite of running on separate CPUs and having pieces distributed separately, and it might even be the case that the firmware happens to be a derivative work of the kernel. If that is so, those who distribute them together, or even just the firmware by itself, might be in violation of the terms of the GNU GPL, the Linux license, and thus losing their license to distribute Linux! To stay on the safer side, legally and technically, and to avoid being a victim of hardware vendors' unethical behavior, it's best to avoid devices that require non-Free firmware, and prefer those that don't require firmware distributed separately, or that use Free firwmare. Jason Self has kindly put together a repository of Free firwmare, for use with GNU Linux-libre. You can get a released tarball of linux-libre-firmware at and the git repository at . Thanks, Jason! Other relevant changes in this release are the new driver for Realtek rtl8822be wifi, that required deblobbing, and other previously-deblobbed drivers that needed updating: microcode loaders, xrx200, amdgpu, irda-usb, skylake sound, netronome nfp, brcmfmac, iwlwifi, and rt5514. For up-to-the-minute news, join us on #linux-libre of irc.gnu.org (Freenode), or follow me (@lxoliva) on Twister , GNU social at social.libreplanet.org, Diaspora* at pod.libreplanetbr.org or pump.io at identi.ca. Check my web page (link in the signature) for direct links. 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 Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst) -- 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