[Prism54-devel] Re: [Prism54 on Knoppix?] Re: Kontaktformular [QK]

[Luis R. Rodriguez]

Hola,

On Thu, Feb 05, 2004 at 04:37:14AM +0100, Klaus Knopper wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 03, 2004 at 10:21:41PM -0700, S. Anderson wrote:
> > hi,
> > 
> > > > 2. What exactly does the "license agreements for the firmware are the
> > > > same ones you get for the equivalent windows driver" say? Is the binary
> > > > driver freely distributable for non-commercial as well as commercial
> > > > use? Where can I find this license agreement for inclusion in
> > > > an appropriate "non-free" debian package?
> > > 
> > > I've downloaded a few windows drivers to extract their license but I
> > > haven't yet seen any. I remember Dlink's old dwl-g650 A1 driver did used
> > > to have a license agreement, I just can't find it, nor do I have windows
> > > to run some exe's to see what are in them. 
> > > 
> > > Intersil never really gave us clearance to redistribute the firmware but
> > > I just assumed it'd be rational to at least provide them in our
> > > website. The way it seems to work is that manufacturers buy
> > > chipsets from intersil, intersil/Globespanvirata/Conexant 
> > > then provides them with a new shiny firmware (hence the different 
> > > firmware versions you see on our website's firmware/ dir) and these
> > > manufacturers then write a driver and redistribute the firmware with
> > > their driver. The driver then has the manufactuer's own license.
> > > 
> > > So basically there is no direct license associated to the firmware,
> > > except the ones attached to with the Windows Drivers. We can all
> > > try to look for the less restrictive one to see if we can at least
> > > redistribute the files (ALL HELP IS WELCOMED).
> > 
> > from the dlink site http://dlink.com/site/terms.asp it says:
> > 
> > Copyright Notice
> >     D-Link authorizes you to copy materials published by D-Link on its
> >     Web Site solely for non-commercial use within your organization in 
>                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this
> 						  is utterly insufficient for a free
> 						  redistribution.


:( 


> >     support of D-Link products. Any copy of these materials which you make 
> >     shall retain all copyright and other proprietary notices in the same 
> >     form and manner as on the original. Any software which you download is 
> >     governed by the license terms accompanying the file or the terms of the
> >     license agreement which accompanied the original product licensed by you
> >     which you are updating.-
> > when i install the driver in windows, i didn't get a license agreement 
> > popup, nor eula. I couldnt find any license regarding the firmware in
> > the windows driver either...
> 
> Unfortunately, in Germany "no license" means that you are NOT allowed to
> use it AT ALL. So, I'll have to wait for a more clear statement from the
> author or originator of these ominous firmware files before I can
> include them. :-(

I've asked Globespan Virata for a license for us for free redistribution. We'll
see how that goes. Anyone have any recommended license terms which we'd
like? Perhaps we can draft it ourselves and suggest it and just have
their lawyers review it.

> Any chance that there are prsm54 cards that have their firmware built
> in, and don't require the firmware upload?

There a new set of cards that support a new firmware architecture, but
it definitely doesn't host the firmware within the card 100%, you still need
some proprietary binary files. Support for these new type of cards is
not yet developed too (openly).

	Luis