On Sunday 18 November 2007, John W. Linville wrote: >Gentlefolk, > >As you may know, many devices require firmware loaded onto the device >before it will function. This is the case with a number of wireless >devices. > >For some time now the Fedora project has been accepting firmware >packages provided that the firmware in question is available under >certain specific licensing terms. This is the case with the firmware >packages for zd1211, rt61, iwl4965, etc. > >Unfortunately there are no b43-firmware or b43legacy-firmware packages >in Fedora. The licenses governing that firmware have yet to have >been deemed sufficiently clear to warrant including such packages >in the Fedora repositories. FWIW, Broadcom has thus far failed to >clarify those licenses for us... > >Fortunately, that firmware is available on the Internet from a number >of sources. The most convenient of these is OpenWRT.org, to which I >have directed a number of users in the past. Using the b43-fwcutter >package in conjunction with these images has yielded acceptable >results for a number of users. Still, this is bit a little painful. > >I have created packages that automate the process of downloading >this firmware. These include scripts to download the firmware, >initscripts to initiate firmware download at boot time, and cron >scripts to check periodically for firmware availability. With these >in place then as long as the user has a functional connection to the >Internet (ethernet, dialup, etc) _sometimes_, then eventually they >should get the b43 firmware downloaded without any further intervention >(beyond that of installing the package in the first place). Of course, >the user can schedule an immediate download manually as well. > >Along with the scripts, the packages contain SHA1SUM files for the >firmware images. The scripts check the SHA1 values before attempting >any downloads and only download if the files are missing, outdated, or >somehow damaged. Should new firmware become preferred in the future, >a new package will contain the new SHA1 values and a new download will >be triggered by cron or at the next boot. (Obviously the download >only occurs if there is a functional Internet connection.) > >So, I have made these packages available for comment. They are >available here: > > http://fedora.tuxdriver.com/rfc/ > >Please take a look at these packages and let me know what you think. >I don't know what the appetite for such packages would be in Fedora, >but if people like this approach then I could maintain a yum repo >that will assist the installation and maintenance of these packages. > >I hope this helps! > >John Message marked important. I'll put this on my F7 lappy as soon as I get over this cold and can really think John, in the meantime, thanks a whole lot. >-- >John W. Linville >linville@xxxxxxxxxxxxx -- Cheers, Gene "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) system needs to be rebooted
