Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Freely redistributable software
open-in-new
<h2 id="firmware-and-microcode">Firmware and microcode</h2> <p>In cases of <a href="/facts/Firmware/62UVKIUK">firmware</a> or <a href="/facts/Microcode/XQEsr2X3">microcode</a>, it is acceptable for major open-source projects like <a href="/facts/OpenBSD/xmPS9tek">OpenBSD</a> to include a binary firmware of a device within the distribution,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> as long as said firmware runs only on the external device in question and not on the main CPU where the operating system itself is running. However, for such inclusion to be in place, the binary firmware must be distributed under an adequate license,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> like <a href="/facts/ISC_license/JBUVCH3l">ISC</a> or <a href="/facts/BSD_licenses/XLtmLp5x">BSD</a>, and must not require a discriminatory contract to be in place.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> A lack of such a license is why wireless devices from <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel Corporation</a> do not work out of the box in almost all open-source distributions, whereas <a href="/facts/Ralink/xJg7sRfH">Ralink</a> wireless cards work just fine.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"rum-license (covers rum-rt2573 for rum(4), as well as run-rt2870 and run-rt3071 for run(4))". BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/. <a href="http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license" target="_blank">http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"rum-license (covers rum-rt2573 for rum(4), as well as run-rt2870 and run-rt3071 for run(4))". BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/. <a href="http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license" target="_blank">http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"ipw.4 – Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 IEEE 802.11b wireless network device, Sh FILES". BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD share/man/man4/. 2014-02-15. Retrieved 2014-12-28. These firmware files are not free because Intel refuses to grant distribution rights without contractual obligations. As a result, even though OpenBSD includes the driver, the firmware files cannot be included and users have to find these files on their own. The official person to state your views to about this issue is majid.awad@intel.com. See also: ipw, iwi, wpi and iwn. <a href="http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/share/man/man4/ipw.4#92" target="_blank">http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/share/man/man4/ipw.4#92</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"ipw.4 – Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 IEEE 802.11b wireless network device, Sh FILES". BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD share/man/man4/. 2014-02-15. Retrieved 2014-12-28. These firmware files are not free because Intel refuses to grant distribution rights without contractual obligations. As a result, even though OpenBSD includes the driver, the firmware files cannot be included and users have to find these files on their own. The official person to state your views to about this issue is majid.awad@intel.com. See also: ipw, iwi, wpi and iwn. <a href="http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/share/man/man4/ipw.4#92" target="_blank">http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/share/man/man4/ipw.4#92</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"rum-license (covers rum-rt2573 for rum(4), as well as run-rt2870 and run-rt3071 for run(4))". BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/. <a href="http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license" target="_blank">http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>