Linux libre
| Linux libre | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
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| developer | Free Software Foundation Latin America |
| License (s) | GPL v2 |
| Current version |
5.8-gnu from August 3, 2020 (29 days ago) |
| Kernel | Monolithic kernel |
| ancestry | Unixoid system |
| Architecture (s) | x86 , x64 , MIPS |
| Languages) | English |
| www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/selibre/linux-libre/index.en.html | |
Linux-libre (libre = free [in Romance languages]) is a kernel that consists entirely of free software . Linux-libre is a modified version of the Linux kernel . With Linux-libre software components are removed that are not available as source code and / or are under a proprietary license . The precompiled parts of the kernel that are not available as source code are called binary blobs . Typically, this is license-protected firmware that may be passed on and used, but not changed.
history
In 1996, the developers of the Linux kernel began using blobs in addition to their own source code . In 2006, work began on removing them using gNewSenses find-firmware and gen-Kernel. The BLAG GNU / Linux distribution continued this work and in 2007 released Linux-libre, a “debobbed” version of the kernel. The Linux-libre kernel was published by the Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA) and confirmed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF for short) as a valuable component for a completely free Linux operating system. In March 2012 the project became a GNU package and was overseen by Alexandre Oliva.
Proprietary firmware removal
Methods
A script called deblob-main , which goes back to the gNewSense distribution, is used for the removal process . Jeff Moe made further modifications for the BLAG distribution. Besides deblob-main there is a second script called deblob-check . This is used to check kernel source texts , patches or compressed source texts and is used to find possible proprietary software.
Effects
Apart from the primarily intended effect - a system that only runs using free software - there are positive and negative effects that the removal of such proprietary device firmware, which does not allow the user to study or modify its source text, has with it:
- Removal of program components that can be worse checked for bugs and potential security problems and therefore may be more difficult to be discovered: Advantage vulnerabilities contain or even malicious operations (eg. Backdoors could permit). With firmware (regardless of the license ) there is the possibility of compromising an entire system by exploiting security gaps . Even a seemingly harmless program error can undermine the security of an entire running system.
- The disadvantage of removing proprietary firmware from the kernel is that it can lead to a complete loss of functionality of certain hardware as long as there is no free firmware to replace it. At the moment, this mostly affects sound , graphics , TV and network cards (especially WLAN cards). With WLAN drivers there are partly free alternatives without protected firmware, such as B. ath5k and ath9k for Atheros WLAN chips.
Availability
The source code and compiled packages of the debunked Linux kernel can be found directly from the distributions that use Linux-libre scripts themselves. Freed-ora, for example, is a sub- project that prepares and maintains RPM packages based on the Fedora kernel. There are also precompiled packages for Debian and its derivatives (e.g. Ubuntu ).
Distributions
Distributions in which Linux-libre is used as the standard:
- Dragora GNU / Linux
- dyne: bolic
- gNewSense
- Hyperbola GNU / Linux-libre
- Musix GNU + Linux
- Parabola GNU / Linux-libre
- Trisquel
Distributions, with Linux as the standard kernel and Linux-libre as a possible alternative:
See also
Web links
- Official website
- Linux (BLOB free version) on FSF.org
- Free Software Corsica, official .deb builder for the Free Software Fondation Latin America since 2010
- APT repository for Linux-libre on jxself.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexandre Oliva: GNU Linux-libre 5.8-gnu . August 2, 2020 (accessed August 4, 2020).
- ↑ Get your freedom back with Linux-2.6.33-libre FSFLA, 2010.
- ↑ Alexandre Oliva: Linux-libre and the prisoners' dilemma FSFLA, 2009.
- ↑ jebba: BLAG :: View topic - Linux Libre BLAG forums, 2008.
- ↑ Linux (BLOB free version) , Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ↑ GNU Linux-libre 3.3-gnu is now available. Accessed August 7, 2012.
- ↑ Free Software Foundation Latin America: How It's Done . In: Linux-libre, Free as in Freedo . Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ↑ fsfla - Revision 8200: / software / linux-libre / scripts . In: Free Software Foundation Latin America . Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ↑ Guillaume Delugré: Reversing the Broadcom NetExtreme's Firmware . In: hack.lu. Sogeti.
- ↑ LinuxLibre: Devices that require non-free firmware . LibrePlanet. February 5, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
- ^ Free Software Foundation Latin America : Linux-libre's Freed-ora project . Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ Robert Millan: Linux-libre for Debian Lenny . April 23, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- ↑ Dragora overview ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dragora.org
- ↑ jaromil: [LAT] hello, dyne: bolic -rt and freeeee . September 10, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ↑ Musix v3.0.1 en los medios ( Spanish ) Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ Damián Fossi: Linux-libre: Resumen del proyecto ( Spanish ) In: Forja . August 24, 2009. Archived from the original on February 24, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 6, 2001.
- ↑ Tim O'Kelly: Bug 266157 . In: Gentoo's Bugzilla . Gentoo Linux. April 14, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ↑ Licenses: Common Setups . In: Gentoo Wiki . Gentoo Linux. August 6, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
