Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 00:10:11 -0800 From: NGie Cooper <yaneurabeya@gmail.com> To: Alfred Perlstein <bright@mu.org> Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Macbook donation (wireless needs fixing) Message-ID: <996060A3-0460-4E06-ACDD-D9034CA505D2@gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <56B84B22.1030707@mu.org> References: <56B64086.4090806@freebsd.org> <CAJm42380G94rCsrKUghUVuw7m3UKo1zAXdLoKvLMk0uy5OO6Sw@mail.gmail.com> <56B7BA1E.2020407@freebsd.org> <CAJm423-6YnHtaB1n51jdC8pFvSEOCEjsYYsQGQgnCOJR0fnydw@mail.gmail.com> <56B82A2F.7050009@freebsd.org> <A8917526-288A-469B-BA96-2C47BE97A588@gmail.com> <56B84B22.1030707@mu.org>
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> On Feb 8, 2016, at 00:00, Alfred Perlstein <bright@mu.org> wrote: >=20 >=20 >=20 > On 2/7/16 11:14 PM, NGie Cooper wrote: >>> On Feb 7, 2016, at 21:39, Alfred Perlstein <alfred@freebsd.org> = wrote: >>>=20 >>> On 2/7/16 4:24 PM, Brandon Vincent wrote: >>>> On Sun, Feb 7, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Alfred Perlstein = <alfred@freebsd.org> wrote: >>>>> Oh, strange, let me see why my macbook4,1 doesn't work with = this... maybe >>>>> it's just not loaded by default? >>>> You'll need the firmware contained in ports/net/bwi-firmware-kmod. >>> This can't be part of the base distribution? >> Not sure of the details, but it looks like no: >>=20 >> NO_PACKAGE=3D this is a modified version of a restricted firmware >>=20 >> :(=E2=80=A6 > Yes, but last time it was someone being overly zealous about some = other firmware that turned out to be fine. >=20 > Why is this firmware restricted? How are others distributing it? = Seems silly. OpenWRT seems to encourage dumping of wireless firmware [1], and then = modifies before they distribute them (I=E2=80=99m guessing based on the = NO_PACKAGE message above)? I could be wrong, but this seems to open a = number of doors (legally) that would be a bad idea to open without a = huge disclaimer because of export laws, copyright laws, etc.. It would be a better idea to couple this with FreeBSD if OpenWRT reverse = engineered the firmware (legally) and released the source code for their = derivative. Based on what I=E2=80=99m reading (as always, my favorite = acronym =E2=80=94 IANAL), this seems like a really nasty legal mess for = the project to get in to. Thanks! -Ngie=
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