Intel Has Also Relicensed Their FSP Binaries: A Big Win To Coreboot, LinuxBoot

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Has Also Relicensed Their FSP Binaries: A Big Win To Coreboot, LinuxBoot

There's some good news beyond Intel's CPU microcode re-licensing to clear up the confusion among users and developers this week: Intel is also re-licensing their FSP binaries to this same shorter and much more concise license...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Intel-Better-FSP-License

[microcode]

Well, good on them to turn a bad news day into a good news day, in some sense. I hope they are rewarded for their good behaviour.

[cybertraveler]

This is an improvement, indeed.

In the future I'd like to see lots of open hardware and open firmware on the market. Until that day comes, I welcome every step towards it which makes the situation a little better.

I feel like we have already won when it comes to Free / Open Source software.

We could do with a open hardware/firmware equivalent of Richard Stallman to passionately drive a movement. Our long term computer freedom, security and privacy depends on it.

[uid313]

I wish AMD would release a open source FSP.
Also hope for open source FSP when RISC-V comes along...

[DeepDayze]

I wish AMD would release a open source FSP.
Also hope for open source FSP when RISC-V comes along...

I am sure that AMD will soon mull making that move as well considering Intel just did. Now only if nVidia would have their graphics firmware under a similar license without all that crazy obfuscation...

[cybertraveler]

I am sure that AMD will soon mull making that move as well considering Intel just did.

Intel didn't Open Source their FSP; they just created a simpler and more permissive license than they had previously.

[GreenReaper]

Now only if nVidia would have their graphics firmware under a similar license without all that crazy obfuscation...

I doubt they ever will, because it'd reveal the details of the manufacturer's HDCP implementation - which they'll be contractually obliged to protect - as well as letting people install their own pervasive threats on the card. Think of a GPU as an extra computer with almost full access to the rest of your computer. It would be all too easy for a shipment to be intercepted by some three-letter agency and re-flashed with a version that looked fine, but was compromised.

[bachchain]

I doubt they ever will, because it'd reveal the details of the manufacturer's HDCP implementation - which they'll be contractually obliged to protect - as well as letting people install their own pervasive threats on the card. Think of a GPU as an extra computer with almost full access to the rest of your computer. It would be all too easy for a shipment to be intercepted by some three-letter agency and re-flashed with a version that looked fine, but was compromised.

What does that have to do with licensing?

[Shnatsel]

Intel didn't Open Source their FSP; they just created a simpler and more permissive license than they had previously.

Indeed. Also, they've recently shot down an attempt to reverse-engineer it in order to provide an open-source equivalent. Phoronix has reported on this.

[Britoid]

I wish AMD would release a open source FSP.
Also hope for open source FSP when RISC-V comes along...

Patents & hollywood prevent them from being open source.