Date: Sat, 15 May 2021 00:51:54 -0400 From: Waitman Gobble <gobble.wa@gmail.com> To: FreeBSD <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Request for clarification on encumbered files and avoiding proprietary drivers Message-ID: <CAFuo_fw29t2_czURmc%2Bog_250hU8q7DGizgez2-pJ8F3dMw81Q@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <a8aad8d4-62b7-e35e-28e5-55c32e66f813@gmail.com> References: <a8aad8d4-62b7-e35e-28e5-55c32e66f813@gmail.com>
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On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 12:40 AM Frederick C. Doe <fred.doe@gmail.com> 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
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