From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sat May 15 04:52:08 2021 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BEE39638F3C for ; Sat, 15 May 2021 04:52:08 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gobble.wa@gmail.com) Received: from mail-ed1-x532.google.com (mail-ed1-x532.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:4864:20::532]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (128/128 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) server-digest SHA256 client-signature RSA-PSS (2048 bits) client-digest SHA256) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "GTS CA 1O1" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4FhtKg5YT1z4ZqG for ; Sat, 15 May 2021 04:52:07 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gobble.wa@gmail.com) Received: by mail-ed1-x532.google.com with SMTP id b17so863867ede.0 for ; Fri, 14 May 2021 21:52:07 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date:message-id:subject:to; bh=r4sRj1Qp18iSSGOXRd1zYLrcL+2dnKmMCDrTHWnyOPc=; b=AhgP0OFeiyKzUfxkoWoLSQ+MwAk22JQABWQXXfmFeDgs/FRfhHOHEH0rxssYqeZFWN opx2ZPZi17KLo/mYUcc4iWtcpq/oooXTHrAct8yF7a+Yud25EqwXD0oVncM13xRpyX6T RoWMilYLv6BGqdY/WQu4g/nXbfk3seBsb4tLrteSFOUxmUc4AmiT23WVtY5xU0sVkrz2 5g1eEmhn2p6TTlpluq1gnPcvaj7GIBWDaSeZOfBM3M3k657bplO3Az69hrJnFbaZJSwl 9RG4GWODKrEV8lRUxPBGDdS2O1nSyDug1FpUCv4Sbq3ZkTrxTtkqDcrnPUn9i+NNW2j1 UAKQ== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date :message-id:subject:to; bh=r4sRj1Qp18iSSGOXRd1zYLrcL+2dnKmMCDrTHWnyOPc=; b=FP1xnFKjrtQXh+xcCU9u9Egd0TCpG4O8KyEnaPSTjE+sEYmaseLEQknzsKVl/rhu6q dxhiQTHxVivcOM1pBAzQIKKWhobEE+2UwIlAdJEiGNFAY+2GzMbLit9ZZIk+oppHAO4Z RS5q/9WAQi5xoM+pUotdcLxA3NpyEgg4FJUmNbFSX94sB7b+m8YI/T6j+reyemVA8X6M copoQl1DJnHl5ko/zms5Kb/Sp2LmF+3jU1CAZsC325LaGr0VvA9occvbC4GCoXW+oie8 sp2uVIIRQbB7UPxeSwULiyoMmqQKZVouURo1hq9LL66RA/MSK15Ly+6b3gEdJx4+1nL7 V/9A== X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM532Vx9VzPSJjQItxrCJF2+d9WiLmAGNYneXg6riBYepBpQENAwMq Z4shzpIU8NZ2sUXucBDVoFDWTFsGNlZ0mNH5Ycj2lJRC8Ac= X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJzFT6vPRyZ3Rxgwi4EHlJ3mVIi/+vuSf5mJA3CPplJzLDv00QlJMfxVDmMJm76kLmBadNJDBlOxI5c3NBcHL/Q= X-Received: by 2002:a05:6402:51c9:: with SMTP id r9mr55477035edd.94.1621054325459; Fri, 14 May 2021 21:52:05 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: In-Reply-To: From: Waitman Gobble Date: Sat, 15 May 2021 00:51:54 -0400 Message-ID: Subject: Re: Request for clarification on encumbered files and avoiding proprietary drivers To: FreeBSD Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 4FhtKg5YT1z4ZqG X-Spamd-Bar: / Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; dkim=pass header.d=gmail.com header.s=20161025 header.b=AhgP0OFe; dmarc=pass (policy=none) header.from=gmail.com; spf=pass (mx1.freebsd.org: domain of gobblewa@gmail.com designates 2a00:1450:4864:20::532 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=gobblewa@gmail.com X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-0.12 / 15.00]; R_SPF_ALLOW(-0.20)[+ip6:2a00:1450:4000::/36:c]; FREEMAIL_FROM(0.00)[gmail.com]; TO_DN_ALL(0.00)[]; DKIM_TRACE(0.00)[gmail.com:+]; DMARC_POLICY_ALLOW(-0.50)[gmail.com,none]; NEURAL_HAM_SHORT(-1.00)[-1.000]; FROM_EQ_ENVFROM(0.00)[]; MIME_TRACE(0.00)[0:+]; RBL_DBL_DONT_QUERY_IPS(0.00)[2a00:1450:4864:20::532:from]; FREEMAIL_ENVFROM(0.00)[gmail.com]; ASN(0.00)[asn:15169, ipnet:2a00:1450::/32, country:US]; TAGGED_FROM(0.00)[]; DWL_DNSWL_NONE(0.00)[gmail.com:dkim]; ARC_NA(0.00)[]; R_DKIM_ALLOW(-0.20)[gmail.com:s=20161025]; FROM_HAS_DN(0.00)[]; TO_MATCH_ENVRCPT_ALL(0.00)[]; MIME_GOOD(-0.10)[text/plain]; PREVIOUSLY_DELIVERED(0.00)[freebsd-questions@freebsd.org]; NEURAL_SPAM_MEDIUM(0.95)[0.951]; RCPT_COUNT_ONE(0.00)[1]; SPAMHAUS_ZRD(0.00)[2a00:1450:4864:20::532:from:127.0.2.255]; NEURAL_SPAM_LONG(0.93)[0.931]; RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE(0.00)[2a00:1450:4864:20::532:from]; RCVD_COUNT_TWO(0.00)[2]; RCVD_TLS_ALL(0.00)[]; MAILMAN_DEST(0.00)[freebsd-questions] X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.34 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 15 May 2021 04:52:08 -0000 On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 12:40 AM Frederick C. Doe wrote: > > Howdy! My sincere apologies if this question is answered elsewhere. > > I'm trying to better understand Section 5.4 of the FreeBSD manual: > https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/developers-handbook/policies/#policies-encumbered > > I find the following wording from the FreeBSD manual confusing: > --- > 1. Any file which is interpreted or executed by the system CPU(s) and > not in source format is encumbered. > > 2. Any file with a license more restrictive than BSD or GNU is encumbered. > > 3. A file which contains downloadable binary data for use by the > hardware is not encumbered, unless (1) or (2) apply to it. It must be > stored in an architecture neutral ASCII format (file2c or uuencoding is > recommended). > --- > > From my (admittedly weak) understanding of FreeBSD, closed-source files > can be broken down into three categories: > 1. Kernel Modules (primarily drivers) that operate in kernel-space > 2. Firmware that is loaded into hardware on hardware power-up and is > *not* executed on the system CPU (either in kernel-space or user-space) > 3. Software that runs in user-space (games, applications, etc) > > A cursory reading would indicate that closed-source kernel modules are > encumbered, but I'm uncertain about proprietary firmware. How are > proprietary firmware files licensed? > > Assuming that all closed-source drivers *and* firmware fall in the > "encumbered" category, is there a way to prevent FreeBSD from loading > *any* encumbered drivers while still maintaining encumbered firmware? > Page 19 of "Absolute FreeBSD" by Michael W. Lucas* recommends avoiding > all proprietary drivers. Is that the standard out-of-the-box behaviour > of FreeBSD (as it is for Fedora GNU/Linux), or must a user manually > disable proprietary drivers during/post-installation? > > I would like to avoid proprietary drivers but am uncertain about how to > do so. In Fedora GNU/Linux I simply don't enable the closed-source > driver repositories. > > * An excellent book, by the way. If you're reading this, Mr. Lucas, hi! > > -- > PGP fingerprint: 8261 80CC 3E97 0EFF 9AE5 DA33 887D C0AD 230D CAA9 >From my experience mostly it's GPU, Wifi and Bluetooth that load proprietary binary blobs. They are usually closed-source like gmail is . So I guess the first thing to do is not use hardware that requires proprietary binary blobs. -- Waitman Gobble