Can I make a request. I've just spent an hour investigating why the madwifi I had installed didn't work, only to discover this web page http://en.opensuse.org/Atheros_madwifi. Can I suggest this information is included in an installation message / readme file for the madwifi package to save other poor souls' time and annoyance. I'd also say that I use the SuSE distro because I find it (relatively) easy to set up, and recommend it to others for the same reason. This piece of installation behaviour definitely isn't friendly. For all the other hardware I didn't need to go to the web site to install the drivers, and I can see no reason why this should be different. Thanks David --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Administrator wrote:
http://en.opensuse.org/Atheros_madwifi. [...]
This piece of installation behaviour definitely isn't friendly. For all the other hardware I didn't need to go to the web site to install the drivers, and I can see no reason why this should be different.
The reason is simple: Madwifi is closed source (at least the crucial parts) and some kernel developers say distributing closed source kernel modules is illegal. Some of those developers have threatened to sue those who distribute these modules because the modules infringe on their copyright. SUSE (and Red Hat and other distributors) have chosen not to take that risk and instead wait for an alternative open source driver to be written. That driver progresses nicely and will probably be usable soon. Regards, Carl-Daniel --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
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Carl-Daniel Hailfinger