[CentOS] Wireless newtworking in CentOS 5

Mon Jul 16 23:39:12 UTC 2007
Rodrigo Barbosa <rodrigob at darkover.org>

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On Mon, Jul 16, 2007 at 02:48:11PM -0500, B.J. McClure wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-07-16 at 16:39 -0300, Rodrigo Barbosa wrote:
> > > > On Mon, Jul 16, 2007 at 08:16:13PM +0200, Ralph Angenendt wrote:
> > > > > Ummmm. The drivers are free, they are licensed under the GPL v2. The
> > > > > firmware is the problem:
> > > > > <http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php?fid=7> - I don't think we
> > > > > want to distribute that (we seem to be allowed to do so under certain
> > > > > conditions, but my legalese sucks, especially the english dialect of
> > > > > it). Yes, that sucks. And I'm sure their excuse is "FCC regulations".
> > > > 
> > > > Just read it. We definitivelly don't want to distribute it.
> > > > 
> > > I just read the entire document as well as Exhibit A.  I do not find any
> > > prohibition against distribution, only conditions which should be met if
> > > it is distributed to end users.  Would you be kind enough to point out
> > > the section or paragraph which you interpret to prohibit distribution.
> > > Thanks in advance.
> > 
> > I'm sorry. Would you point to be where I said it prohibits distribution ?
> > 
> > I said we don't WANT do distribute it.
> > 
> 	My apologies.  Guess I just assumed, silly me, that if it was not
> prohibited and it would make wireless a bit easier for those who use it,
> that would be a good thing.  I probably do not understand the issue.

Seems that way.

First, lemme tell you I use that same card, so I'm directly affected
by it.

This kind of thing takes away too much energy that could be used to
benefit a higher percentage of the users. The number of users that
have that card is very small.

This kind of situation where you have to deal with legal issues can
be very time consuming on a linux distro. Do, as a distro maintainer,
you don't WANT to deal with it, unless you _really_ need to. Even
things that are relatively harmless (like this particular license) can
give you a lot of headaches.

No, I'm not a CentOS maintainer. But I've worked on distro teams before.

Hope I've made myself clear now.


- -- 
Rodrigo Barbosa
"Quid quid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur"
"Be excellent to each other ..." - Bill & Ted (Wyld Stallyns)

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