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

[Klaus Knopper]

Hello Dan and Luis,

For inclusion on Knoppix, not every piece of software has to be GPL, but
I insist on the requirement that the software must be "freely
distributable for non-commercial as well as commercial use". So,
acroread4 is present, but not acroread5 or macromedia flash, for
example, because of their licenses.

Binary-only Firmware files are still OK for me, as long as nobody
restricts their distribution or collects license fees. I have to make
sure that there is an appropriate license statement present from the
copyright holder.

If this is given, all I need is a kernel patch and/or a Debian package
that can be updated or recompiled easily for inclusion in Knoppix.

The Debian/unstable hotplug package is already present in the current
Knoppix 3.4 development build, but there is still time until the
official public release at CeBit 2004.

Regards
-Klaus Knopper

On Mon, Jan 19, 2004 at 10:47:12PM -0500, Luis R. Rodriguez wrote:
> 
> Dan and Sir Knopper,
> 
> On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, Dan Allen wrote:
> 
> > Klaus Knopper (knopper@knopper.net) wrote:
> >
> > > On Mon, Jan 19, 2004 at 09:33:22PM +0100, Dan Allen wrote:
> > > >
> > > > KONTAKTFORMULAR V1.1
> > > > ===========================================================================
> > > >
> > > > Host= XX.XX.XX.XX
> > > > Name= Dan Allen
> > > > Email= dan@mojavelinux.com
> > > > KNOPPIX= V3.3-2003-11-19
> > > > Category= question the solution for wlan in linux/knoppix
> > > > Comment=
> > > > I know you are super busy, so right to the point.  There has been
> > > > discussion on the forums about wlan drivers, linuxant,
> > > > ndiswrapper, etc.  I believe the best way to go is to integrate
> > > > the prism54 kernel module into the distro
> > > > (http://www.prism54.org).  On the list of supported devices page
> > > > (LOOK AT THAT SUPPORT LIST, INCREDIBLE!) there is a whole page of
> > > > cards which work right out the the box and I can atest to it
> > > > after using them in Linux Mandrake 9.2, esp the Netgear WG511 for
> > > > laptops.  These cards can be found for under $50 bucks and are a
> > > > joy to work with.
> > > >
> > > > The instructions on the prism54 website are super easy to follow
> > > > and I believe that integrating this into knoppix will allow the
> > > > distro to take a big step foward in wlan support and laptop
> > > > support for that matter.  After a long introduction, my question
> > > > is, will you add the prism54 module to knoppix?
> > >
> > > Looks promising. But more important is that the license must be
> > > OSI-compliant, and no proprietary/patented code must be used.
> > >
> > > Where is the license statement? What about the stated "firmware"?
> > >
> > > Regards
> > > -Klaus Knopper
> > >
> >
> > You make an interesting point, during the install I didn't realize
> > the significance of that firmware file.  According to one of the
> > maintainers it is somehow loosely tied to a GPL licence:
> >
> > http://prism54.org/firmware/
> >
> > I am more than certain that the project itself is GPL'd based on the
> > statments that mcgrof makes there, but you are correct in pointing
> > out that they are missing license files in the CVS repository.
> > Perhaps this e-mail will draw attention to that oversight.
> > Hopefully it can all still work out, it is the closest project to
> > free I have seen for many of the wlan devices.
> 
> Prism54 drivers source code is 100% GPL. We just recently completed that
> aspect of the licence. There is an exception and that is of the firmware.
> The license agreements for the firmware are the same ones you get for the
> equivalent windows driver. We provide the firmware on our website and
> not as part of our package. The firmware is available on our website as a
> means of making things easier for Linux users.
> 
> "Then this driver may not even make it to the Linux kernel", perhaps you
> are saying? Wrong. "Maybe it's not clean GPL?" Wrong. The Linux kernel now
> has in both stable (2.6) and the old 2.4 series a completed firmware
> request ioctl which drivers like ours can use which allows their
> inclusion in the Linux kernel by remaining GPL-compliant. The 2.4 kernel
> included this as of 2.4.23. Previous to that it was in 2.4.22 rc patches
> and before that just plain patches by its author, Manuel Estrada Sainz.
> 2.6 has it too now in its stable releases.
> 
> The latest linux-hotplug package is required since it has firmare.agent.
> Currently Debian unstable has it and most distributions are picking it up
> (a lot of them, thanks to us ;).
> 
> Our inclusion to the Linux Kernel is just a matter of time. Should you
> choose to include the driver in a Knoppix release we'll push so we get a
> test release out that is decent for usage. Currently we rely on daily CVS
> snapshots.
> 
> 	Luis