caleb on Nostr: it's utterly ridiculous to me that we can't include firmware for phones (like wifi, ...
it's utterly ridiculous to me that we can't include firmware for phones (like wifi, Bluetooth, gpu firmware) in the linux-firmware git repository without the OEM providing consent.
in the case of Qualcomm phones:<li>The firmware is locked to the device via a signature, it can't be replaced. </li><li>It is already obtainable easily via the vendors website or on GitHub</li><li>It usually barely differs from the development board firmware which is already in the linux-firmware repo</li>
Vendors generally aren't confident enough to explicitly distribute firmware with a suitable license because Qualcomm haven't given the go ahead (and they either can't, or won't ask permission).
The few examples we do have are for the Lenovo ThinkPad x13s, where the legal side was a non-trivial exercise as i understand it.
Even if Qualcomm greenlit OEMs invoicing redistributable licenses with their firmware builds (which is something i think they should do), we'd still need OEMs to actually do it... And they might have their own value add and silly lawyers who think NOT doing it gives them some kind of advantages.
The whole situation is so ridiculously stupid. And to top it all off it's not like anyone actually cares. There are many people redistricting firmware for Android phones and ofc it's totally fine - because there's literally nothing to gain by preventing access to these blobs.
I wonder what would happen if someone just submitted blobs for a phone to linux-firmware...
in the case of Qualcomm phones:<li>The firmware is locked to the device via a signature, it can't be replaced. </li><li>It is already obtainable easily via the vendors website or on GitHub</li><li>It usually barely differs from the development board firmware which is already in the linux-firmware repo</li>
Vendors generally aren't confident enough to explicitly distribute firmware with a suitable license because Qualcomm haven't given the go ahead (and they either can't, or won't ask permission).
The few examples we do have are for the Lenovo ThinkPad x13s, where the legal side was a non-trivial exercise as i understand it.
Even if Qualcomm greenlit OEMs invoicing redistributable licenses with their firmware builds (which is something i think they should do), we'd still need OEMs to actually do it... And they might have their own value add and silly lawyers who think NOT doing it gives them some kind of advantages.
The whole situation is so ridiculously stupid. And to top it all off it's not like anyone actually cares. There are many people redistricting firmware for Android phones and ofc it's totally fine - because there's literally nothing to gain by preventing access to these blobs.
I wonder what would happen if someone just submitted blobs for a phone to linux-firmware...