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Subject: |
[rtl8812au-aircrack-ng-linux-module] Missing Source for hal/rtl8812a/hal8812a_fw.c (and probably other files ending in fw.c) |
Date: |
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 20:12:18 -0500 |
Files such as hal8812a_fw.c [1] have large arrays that seem to be binary
firmware encoded in text. My understanding is that source code is not
available, so I believe the files are nonfree software, and should, in
the short-term at least, be removed from Guix. Long term it would be
good to get the source code (via reverse engineering or asking Realtek),
but I imagine that would take a significant amount of time and effort (I
do have a Realtek USB Wi-Fi card, maybe not with this exact firmware
though.).
[1] web copy at
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au/6c1b4a333b067eaddc9b8b34927019b41b99bc36/hal/rtl8812a/hal8812a_fw.c
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--- Begin Message ---
Subject: |
Re: bug#57269: [rtl8812au-aircrack-ng-linux-module] Missing Source for hal/rtl8812a/hal8812a_fw.c (and probably other files ending in fw.c) |
Date: |
Sat, 27 Aug 2022 11:47:40 -0400 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/28.1 (gnu/linux) |
Hello,
Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com> writes:
> Hi,
>
> Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr> writes:
>
>> Hi Jacob,
>>
>> Jacob K via Bug reports for GNU Guix 写道:
>>> Files such as hal8812a_fw.c [1] have large arrays that seem to be
>>> binary
>>> firmware encoded in text. My understanding is that source code is
>>> not
>>> available, so I believe the files are nonfree software,
>>
>> Even if free source code exists, we should still remove the blobs and
>> build our own. (Yes, we actually do this for other firmware :-)
>>
>>> the short-term at least, be removed from Guix. Long term it would be
>>> good to get the source code (via reverse engineering or asking
>>> Realtek),
>>> but I imagine that would take a significant amount of time and
>>> effort (I
>>> do have a Realtek USB Wi-Fi card, maybe not with this exact firmware
>>> though.).
>>
>> Unfortunately all correct. Another blow to wireless networking with
>> Guix. Attached is a patch removing the rtl8821ce-linux-module and
>> rtl8812au-aircrack-ng-linux-module packages.
Closing, as the drivers were removed in Tobias's commit
b8f2eb286ec52c97048e23d326d94ae5772797e8.
Thanks,
Maxim
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