jeblog

linux-libre

jebba — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:43:31 +0000

The official “vanilla” Linux kernel from Linus that gets distributed on kernel.org has non-free[1] software in it. Here is one example from linux-2.6.24/drivers/net/tg3.c:

/*
 * tg3.c: Broadcom Tigon3 ethernet driver.
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 David S. Miller (davem@redhat.com)
 * Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003 Jeff Garzik (jgarzik@pobox.com)
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sun Microsystems Inc.
 * Copyright (C) 2005-2007 Broadcom Corporation.
 *
 * Firmware is:
 *      Derived from proprietary unpublished source code,
 *      Copyright (C) 2000-2003 Broadcom Corporation.
 *
 *      Permission is hereby granted for the distribution of this firmware
 *      data in hexadecimal or equivalent format, provided this copyright
 *      notice is accompanying it.
 */

It then has screenfulls of non-free code like this:

0x0e000003, 0x00000000, 0x08001b24, 0x00000000, 0x10000003, 0x00000000,
0x0000000d, 0x0000000d, 0x3c1d0800, 0x37bd4000, 0x03a0f021, 0x3c100800,
0x26100000, 0x0e000010, 0x00000000, 0x0000000d, 0x27bdffe0, 0x3c04fefe,
0xafbf0018, 0x0e0005d8, 0x34840002, 0x0e000668, 0x00000000, 0x3c030800,
0x90631b68, 0x24020002, 0x3c040800, 0x24841aac, 0x14620003, 0x24050001,
0x3c040800, 0x24841aa0, 0x24060006, 0x00003821, 0xafa00010, 0x0e00067c,
0xafa00014, 0x8f625c50, 0x34420001, 0xaf625c50, 0x8f625c90, 0x34420001,
0xaf625c90, 0x2402ffff, 0x0e000034, 0xaf625404, 0x8fbf0018, 0x03e00008,
0x27bd0020, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x27bdffe0, 0xafbf001c,
0xafb20018, 0xafb10014, 0x0e00005b, 0xafb00010, 0x24120002, 0x24110001,
0x8f706820, 0x32020100, 0x10400003, 0x00000000, 0x0e0000bb, 0x00000000,
0x8f706820, 0x32022000, 0x10400004, 0x32020001, 0x0e0001f0, 0x24040001,
0x32020001, 0x10400003, 0x00000000, 0x0e0000a3, 0x00000000, 0x3c020800,
0x90421b98, 0x14520003, 0x00000000, 0x0e0004c0, 0x00000000, 0x0a00003c,
0xaf715028, 0x8fbf001c, 0x8fb20018, 0x8fb10014, 0x8fb00010, 0x03e00008,
0x27bd0020, 0x27bdffe0, 0x3c040800, 0x24841ac0, 0x00002821, 0x00003021,
0x00003821, 0xafbf0018, 0xafa00010, 0x0e00067c, 0xafa00014, 0x3c040800,
0x248423d8, 0xa4800000, 0x3c010800, 0xa0201b98, 0x3c010800, 0xac201b9c,
0x3c010800, 0xac201ba0, 0x3c010800, 0xac201ba4, 0x3c010800, 0xac201bac,
0x3c010800, 0xac201bb8, 0x3c010800, 0xac201bbc, 0x8f624434, 0x3c010800,
0xac221b88, 0x8f624438, 0x3c010800, 0xac221b8c, 0x8f624410, 0xac80f7a8,
0x3c010800, 0xac201b84, 0x3c010800, 0xac2023e0, 0x3c010800, 0xac2023c8,

Why Linus Torvalds tolerates and distributes this I have no idea. He surely has some rationale buried in a LKML flamewar somewhere, but it doesn’t change the fact that there is clearly non-Free code in the Linux kernel.

A little over three years ago BLAG made a commitment[2] to RMS to only distribute software that met the Free Software Definition. Since then, I have learned about the issues with the non-Free Linux kernel (IIRC around the time gnewsense popped up). I kept punting the issue hoping it would just go away and upstream would solve it. They haven’t and the blobs remained in the kernel.

After talking to Jaromil from dynebolic, looking at the gnewsense approach (which has to remove additional non-free blobs that ubuntu adds), and debian’s approach I felt a single clean source tarball would be of benefit to everyone who wants a truly Free Linux kernel. This new cleaned kernel source has been dubbed “linux-libre” and I am its janitor. It is available here:

ftp://ftp.blagblagblag.org/pub/BLAG/linux/kernel/v2.6

If you actually go there, you’ll see a TESTING directory–currently that is where the tarballs are stored, but once everything is finalized they’ll be in the main directory. One issue I wanted to settle before moving things from TESTING was a version numbering system that we could live with long term. I have settled on the following approach, which is subject to change if anyone comes up with good objections: I’m adding a last digit to show the “libre” release based on the upstream kernel. Examples:

Linus version         Linux Libre version
2.6.24                2.6.24.0.0 first  libre release
2.6.24                2.6.24.0.1 second libre release
2.6.24.1              2.6.24.1.0 first  libre release
2.6.24.1              2.6.24.1.1 second libre release
2.6.24.2              2.6.24.2.5 sixth  libre release

So the latest linux-libre release is 2.6.24.2.1–my second spin based on upstream’s 2.6.24.2. In sum, the last digit is mine, the previous digits match upstream.

The `deblob` script used to clean the kernel is in the scripts/ directory of the tarball and can be used to clean other kernels.

Now that there is a nice tarball to use as a base, BLAG will be building it’s own kernels based upon that and not distributing any Fedora kernels. We have unreleased ISOs spun that are using this new kernel and kernel RPMs are hitting the repository. “Real-soon-now” we’ll have new BLAG releases.

All for now,

-Jeff

[1] http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html
[2] http://forums.blagblagblag.org/viewtopic.php?t=571

BLAG forum thread on linux-libre:
http://forums.blagblagblag.org/viewtopic.php?t=4580

The initial list of removed drivers (additions/corrections most welcome):

########################
# Removed char Drivers #
########################
COMPUTONE - Computone IntelliPort Plus serial
ATARI_DSP56K - DSP56001 Device Driver
DRM_MGA - Matrox g200/g400
DRM_R128 - ATI Rage 128
DRM_RADEON - ATI Radeon
#########################
# Removed Media Drivers #
#########################
DVB_TDA10021 - Philips TDA10021 based
DVB_TDA8083 - Philips TDA8083 based
DVB_VES1820 - VLSI VES1820 based
DVB_VES1X93 - VLSI VES1893 or VES1993 based
DVB_AV7110 - AV7110 cards
DVB_BUDGET_AV - Budget cards with analog video inputs
DVB_BUDGET_CI - Budget cards with onboard CI connector
DVB_TTUSB_BUDGET - Technotrend/Hauppauge Nova-USB devices
USB_PWC - USB Philips Cameras
VIDEO_CPIA - CPiA Video For Linux
USB_DABUSB - DABUSB driver
USB_SN9C102 - USB SN9C1xx PC Camera Controller support
USB_IBMCAM - USB IBM (Xirlink) C-it Camera support
USB_VICAM - USB 3com HomeConnect (aka vicam)
#######################
# Removed net Drivers #
#######################
ACENIC - Alteon AceNIC/3Com 3C985/NetGear GA620 Gigabit
ADAPTEC_STARFIRE - Adaptec Starfire/DuraLAN support
BNX2 - Broadcom NetXtremeII
CASSINI - Sun Cassini
E100 - Intel(R) PRO/100+
MYRI_SBUS - MyriCOM Gigabit Ethernet
TEHUTI - Tehuti Networks 10G Ethernet
TIGON3 - Broadcom Tigon3
TYPHOON - 3cr990 series Typhoon
COPS - COPS LocalTalk PC
YAM - YAM driver for AX.25
PCMCIA_SMC91C92 - SMC 91Cxx PCMCIA
3C359 - 3Com 3C359 Token Link Velocity XL adapter
SMCTR - SMC ISA/MCA adapter
USB_KAWETH - USB KLSI KL5USB101-based ethernet device support
########################
# Removed s390 Drivers #
########################
QETH - Gigabit Ethernet device support
########################
# Removed SCSI Drivers #
########################
SCSI_QLOGICPTI - PTI Qlogic, ISP Driver
SCSI_ADVANSYS - AdvanSys SCSI
SCSI_QLOGIC_1280 - Qlogic QLA 1240/1x80/1x160 SCSI
#######################
# Removed USB Drivers #
#######################
USB_EMI26 - EMI 2|6 USB Audio interface
USB_EMI62 - EMI 6|2m USB Audio interface
USB_SISUSBVGA - USB 2.0 SVGA dongle support (Net2280/SiS315)
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_MPR - USB Keyspan MPR Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA18X - USB Keyspan USA-18X Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19 - USB Keyspan USA-19 Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19QI - USB Keyspan USA-19QI Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19QW - USB Keyspan USA-19QW Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA19W - USB Keyspan USA-19W Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28 - USB Keyspan USA-28 Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28XA - USB Keyspan USA-28XA Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28XB - USB Keyspan USA-28XB Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA28X - USB Keyspan USA-28X Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA49W - USB Keyspan USA-49W Firmware
USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_USA49WLC - USB Keyspan USA-49WLC Firmware
USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT - USB Inside Out Edgeport Serial Driver
USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT_TI - USB Inside Out Edgeport Serial Driver (TI devices)
USB_SERIAL_TI - USB TI 3410/5052 Serial Driver
USB_SERIAL_WHITEHEAT - USB ConnectTech WhiteHEAT Serial Driver
#########################
# Removed video Drivers #
#########################
FB_ASILIANT - Asiliant (Chips) 69000 display support
FB_CT65550 - Chips 65550 display support
#########################
# Removed Sound Drivers #
#########################
SND_CS46XX - Cirrus Logic (Sound Fusion)
SND_KORG1212 - Korg 1212 IO
SND_MAESTRO3 - ESS Allegro/Maestro3
SND_YMFPCI - Yamaha YMF724/740/744/754

Ciao Indymedia!

jebba — Wed, 02 May 2007 14:23:04 +0000

Well, after around 6 years of doing tech with Indymedia and 4+ years of hosting, I’m no longer hosting any sites. Still feel free to email me if you have questions. Thanks to all the IMCistas for their great work and suerte!

BLAG 60000 (flout) Released

jebba — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:08:10 +0000

http://www.blagblagblag.org/torrents/BLAG-60000.iso.torrent

ftp://ftp.blagblagblag.org/pub/BLAG/linux/60000/en/iso/BLAG-60000.iso

BLAG and The Linux Store now have an arrangement where they will ship you the BLAG 60000 CD for free!

This includes the CD and shipping for a total cost to you of zero.

Order here:
http://www.thelinuxstore.ca/blag

BLAG is a 100% Free Software distribution with all the tools you want from a desktop computer, plus more. It comes on a single CD, is easily installed, and user friendly. Power users have the resources of a repository that combines bits from Fedora Core, Fedora Extras, freshrpms, Dries, ATrpms, livna, Planet CCRMA, and our own special brews.

BLAG 60000 (flout) is a new series with a new base (FC6) and many new applications.

Featuring all of the applications below on JUST ONE CD. Burn copies and hand them out! It’s got it all. Did I mention it’s all on just one CD?

Democracy Player
Very cool Internet TV program. Download high-quality shows straight to your hard drive. Don’t settle for little windows in a web browser! :) http://www.getdemocracy.com/

Video editor
That’s right, edit video–it’s on the CD. Kino for basic editing or the more powerful cinelerra for movie production. Then edit DVD menus with qdvdauthor.

inkscape
enabled with inkboard so you can collaboratively work on drawings with other users via the Internet using jabber!

kiax
Make free phone calls around the world to landlines, mobile phones, and VoIP phones with this unique service from the BLAG project BLASTERISK.

Audio players
“listen“, is a cool app that integrates playlists, album covers automatically, lyrics, wikipedia lookups, group playlists, everything. The minimal rock-solid xmms is there as always.

mplayer & xine
Two top-notch video players, plus mencoder to re-encode audio and video

DVD Ripping
Well, that’s what it does. Thoggen! So easy to use, straight to theora format. For CDs, there’s the venerable grip.

audacity
Edit soundfiles with a lean, easy to use, but powerful sound editor.

Gaim
Handles jabber, AOL, MSN, IRC, ICQ, Yahoo, and other Instant messaging networks–all in one program. Includes encryption and “off the record” plugins for privacy.

Firefox
The famous web browser, of course

Thunderbird
Nice email client

streamtuner
Tune into streaming radio stations on the ‘net! Plus with streamripper, you can record ‘em.

MuSE
Or instead of just listening, broadcast your own station with MuSE and icecast! Free music is even included.

Package/Application Management
Both yum and apt are available with pirut and synaptic GUIs. Download from our repo of over 8,500 free packages.

Gnome
User friendly yet powerful, Gnome is the main desktop that BLAG is built upon. Fluxbox is on the CD too….

games
A few of those even….

3D Modeling
World famous blender is on the CD should you decide to make the next great computer graphics movie!

GIMP
Edit photos & images, put Bush’s head on anything you want, have at it…

Font Editor
Create fonts! Edit existing fonts.

Peer-to-peer
Bittorrent and a gnutella client, sitting right there on the CD waitin’ for you.

Blogs
Get blog or any other RSS feeds with liferea, gpodder for audio blogs, and gnome-blog for uploading your own blog posts.

gnome-translate
Conveniently translate text or websites.

Document Layout
scribus for anything from pamphlets to long books!

Office slock
abiword a lightweight word processor, gnumeric lightweight yet powerful spread sheet, and glabels does its job so well.

GCC
Since 2002, BLAG has not had a compiler on the CD–compilers have been available on the DVDs or in the repo. With BLAG 60k, gcc, plus a few basic bits are available immediately should you need to compile a new kernel, modules, or whatever.

Server bits
apache for webserving, vsftp ftp server, and postfix for SMTP. Openssh’s server is included, along with a dhcpd server and xinetd.

kernel
Yes! One of those. 2.6.18-1.2869. Note BLAG 60k is compatible with i686 (~Pentium II or greater) processors. BLAG disables SELinux by passing selinux=0 to the kernel boot line. :)

So freakin’ much
And even more in the online repository. Thousands of more applications are available with a few clicks. No cost, yo.

Yes, all this is on one CD! 700 megs of Free Software.

If that’s not enough, developers can grab the two BLAG binary DVDs and the two source DVDs. This has the entire repository of 8,500+ 100% Free Software packages.

Installation Instructions:

http://wiki.blagblagblag.org/Installation

Put in the CD, hit enter at the boot: prompt, and answer the few questions. :)

Alternately, if you want to ERASE EVERTYHING on your hard drive and do an automated install, you can type:

blagblagblag

at the boot: prompt of the initial screen of the CDROM. This makes installation fast and easy for computer labs, recycling centers, etc.

Upgrade Instructions:

Put in the CD and select “Upgrade” when prompted. After the install and you’ve rebooted into the upgraded
system you can run this, if you are connected to the Internet, to grab updates to packages you may have
installed that weren’t on the CD:

apt-get update

apt-get –fix-broken install

Users have successfully upgraded using yum or apt-get by changing 50000 to 60000 in /etc/yum.repos.d/ or /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
This exercise is recommended for experienced users. Install a new 60k kernel first:

apt-get update

apt-get install kernel#2.6.18-1.2869.fc6

apt-get dist-upgrade

Download here:

http://www.blagblagblag.org/torrents/BLAG-60000.iso.torrent

ftp://ftp.blagblagblag.org/pub/BLAG/linux/60000/en/iso/BLAG-60000.iso

Our website:

http://www.blagblagblag.org/

Our forum:

http://forums.blagblagblag.org/

Our wiki/documentation:

http://wiki.blagblagblag.org/

Mailing Lists:
http://www.blagblagblag.org/mailinglist/

Bugzilla, for reporting issues:

http://bugzilla.blagblagblag.org/

Roadmap:

http://wiki.blagblagblag.org/Roadmap

Chat:

irc.indymedia.org #blag

PONG!

January 14th, 2007

BLAG-60000 (puente) Beta Released

jebba — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:44:27 +0000

ftp://ftp.blagblagblag.org/pub/BLAG/linux/60000/en/iso/BLAG-59999.50000.iso

BLAG is a 100% Free Software distribution with all the tools you want from a desktop computer, plus more. It comes on a single CD, is easily installed, and user friendly. Power users have the resources of a repository that combines bits from Fedora Core, Fedora Extras, Freshrpms, Dries, ATrpms, livna, and our own special brews.

BLAG 60000 is a new series with a new base (FC6) and many new applications. Since September 3rd, 2006, over 50 alpha versions of BLAG-60000 have been spun. Today, this first day of 2007, we have our first beta. The current stable release is BLAG-50003 (the third upgrade to BLAG-50000).

Featuring all of the applications below on JUST ONE CD. Burn copies and hand them out! It’s got it all. Did I mention it’s all on just one CD?

* kernel - Yes! One of those. 2.6.18-1.2869. Note BLAG 60k is compatible with i686 (~Pentium II or greater) processors.

* Democracy Player - Very cool Internet TV program. Download high-quality shows straight to your hard drive. Don’t settle for little windows in a web browser! :) http://www.getdemocracy.com/

* inkscape - enabled with inkboard so you can collaboratively work on drawings via jabber!

* Audio players - “listen”, is a cool app that integrates playlists, album covers automatically, lyrics, wikipedia lookups, group playlists, everything. The minimal rock-solid xmms is there as always.

* mplayer & xine - Two top-notch video players, plus mencoder to re-encode audio and video

* Video editor - That’s right, edit video–it’s on the CD. Kino for basic usage or cinelerra for serious movie production. Then edit DVD menus with qdvdauthor.

* DVD Ripping - Well, that’s what it does. Thoggen! So easy to use, straight to theora format. For CDs, there’s the venerable grip.

* audacity - Edit soundfiles with a lean, easy to use, but powerful sound editor.

* Gaim - Handles jabber, AOL, MSN, IRC, ICQ, Yahoo, and other Instant messaging networks–all in one program. Includes encryption and “off the record” plugins for privacy.

* Firefox - The famous web browser, of course

* Thunderbird - Nice email client

* streamtuner - Tune into streaming radio stations on the ‘net! Plus with streamripper, you can record ‘em.

* MuSE - Or instead of just listening, broadcast your own station with MuSE and icecast!

* yum / apt - Both yum and apt are available with pirut and synaptic GUIs. Download from our repo of 7,000 /free/ packages.

* Gnome - User friendly yet powerful, Gnome is the main desktop that BLAG is built upon. Fluxbox is on the CD too….

* games - A few of those even….

* 3D Modeling World famous blender is on the CD should you decide to make the next great computer graphics movie!

* GIMP - Edit photos & images, put Bush’s head on anything you want, have at it…

* Font Editor - Create fonts! Edit existing fonts.

* Peer-to-peer - Bittorrent and a gnutella client, sitting right there on the CD waitin’ for you.

* Blogs - Get blog or any other RSS feeds with liferea, gpodder for audio blogs, and gnome-blog for uploading your own blog posts.

* gnome-translate - Conveniently translate text or websites.

* kiax - Make free phone calls around the world to landlines, mobile phones, and VoIP phones with this one-of-a-kind service from the BLAG project BLASTERISK.

* Document Layout - scribus for anything from pamphlets to long books!

* Office slock - abiword a lightweight word processor, gnumeric lightweight yet powerful spread sheet, and glabels does its job so well.

* GCC - Since 2002, BLAG has not had a compiler on the CD–compilers have been available on the DVDs or in the repo. With BLAG 60k, gcc, plus a few basic bits are available immediately should you need to compile a new kernel, modules, or whatever.

* Server bits - apache for webserving, vsftp ftp server, and postfix for SMTP. Openssh’s server is included, along with a dhcpd server and xinetd.

* So freakin’ much - And even more in the online repository. Thousands of more applications are available with a few clicks. No cost, yo.

Yes, all this is on one CD! 687 megs of Free Software.

Download here:
ftp://ftp.blagblagblag.org/pub/BLAG/linux/60000/en/iso/BLAG-59999.50000.iso

Our website:
http://www.blagblagblag.org/

Our forum:
http://forums.blagblagblag.org/

Our wiki/documentation:
http://wiki.blagblagblag.org/

Bugzilla, for reporting issues:
http://bugzilla.blagblagblag.org/

Roadmap:
http://wiki.blagblagblag.org/Roadmap

Chat:
irc.indymedia.org #blag

PONG!

January 1st, 2007

Last Post?

jebba — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:14:11 +0000

The firewall:

Uh oh.

Croquet now, badminton later

jebba — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:45:32 +0000

UPDATE: I’m dumping info on this and the router at croquet.blagblagblag.org. If you want to see what the folks that invented such things as “graphical computer interfaces”, “URLs”, “networked workstations”, “UDP”, “object oriented programming” and “the first interactive 3D game” are up to nowadays take a peek at croquet.

Croquet @ wikipedia.

Croquet: Invent the Future.

Quick & dirty proto-howto connect to BLAG’s croquet router: croquet.blagblagblag.org

Fire up Croquet.sh, go to “Scratch”, left-click, “open…”, “workspace” and paste (alt-v) in this code:

user := UIManager default
request: 'Enter user name' initialAnswer:'guest'.
pass := UIManager default
requestPassword: 'Enter password for ', user storeString.

participant := CroquetParticipant new.
participant setup.
harness := participant instVarNamed: 'harness'. "Eeek!"

address := NetNameResolver addressForName: 'croquet.blagblagblag.org'.
id := TObjectID readHexFrom: '35396f525945454344427a696f436c4c'.

controller := TSimpleController new.
controller connectTo: address port: 8080 sessionID: id.
p := controller login: user password: pass.
p wait. "until connected"
p := controller join. "receive messages"
p wait. "until joined"
p := controller sync. "request replicated state"
p wait. "until sync-ed"

p result ifNil:[
island := controller newIsland.
island future id: id name: 'Test'.
sync := island future new: SimpleWorld.
] ifNotNil:[
controller install: p result.
island := controller island.
].
controller beServer. "act as server"
controller heartbeat: 20. "set heartbeat rate"
harness addController: controller.
entry := controller island future at: #masterSpace.
pc := entry future postcard.
pc whenResolved:[
harness addIsland: island postcard: pc value.
sync := harness viewPortal future postcardLink: pc value.
sync whenResolved:[
harness startRender.
participant openInWorld.
]. "ready to render"
].

Then select/highlight all that code right-click and hit “do it”. When prompted, the user/pass is guest/guest.

FYI, this is the router.st running on croquet.blagblagblag.org (you don’t need this to connect):

id := TObjectID readHexFrom: '35396f525945454344427a696f436c4c'.

dispatcher := TExampleDispatcher new.
dispatcher listenOn: 8080. "fixed port"
dispatcher autoCreate: false.

router := TSimpleRouter new.
router addUserName: 'guest' password: 'guest'.
dispatcher addRouter: router id: id.

I run it thusly:

./squeak -headless ~/croquet/Croquet_SDK_1.0_beta/foo.1.0.10.image file:///home/jebba/croquet/router.st

BLAG 50003 Released

jebba — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:10:12 +0000

BLAG 50003 released.

For developers, the there are now two DVD binary and two DVD source images. There is still just one regular user CD.