Peter Robinson (pbrobinson(a)gmail.com) said:
> I wonder... could we make linux-firmware optional?
>
> I would expect many virt env's don't need any firmware to work...
> (but of course I could be wrong).
It use to be optional, I know on the olpc xo-1 it use to be optional
and there should be no firmware needed for an average VM. I'd also
love to see it broken down for various profiles because most desktops
don't need enterprise storage controllers, most servers don't need
wifi and most ARM platforms don't need most of the stuff in there but
do need a few ARM only firmware packages.
However, if you go down that route, the kernel should be the same way,
the firmware should be separate subpackages, and requires should be done at
the module -> firmware level by generating it from the MODULE_FIRMWARE tags.
(Unless you're relying on packagekit to install your firmware, which if
you're going that minimal seems to have missed the forest for the trees
somewhere.)
I wouldn't be against that, but I also don't have the time to look at that
right now.
Bill