You can read here : http://vendorwatch.org/index.php?title=Blob
"Blobs are vendor-compiled binary drivers without any source code. Hardware makers like them because they obscure the details of how to make their hardware work. They hide bugs and workarounds for bugs. Newer versions of blobs can weaken support for older hardware and motivate people to buy new hardware. Blobs are expedient." "Firmwares (like for instance on a Intel wireless card, or a such) are binary pieces of code that will run on the little processor that is on the wireless card. As an operating system, we need to load the code out to the card." On 1/29/07, Trond Danielsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
2007/1/29, Vim Visual <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > Which cards in that list are comparable in quality to the intel 2200BG > but do not require blobs? > The ipw2200 is not the only one that requires a binary firmware to be loaded into network card to be funtional. Others may disagree, but I think there is a difference between a binary blob that is inserted into the kernel (for instance Nvidia drivers for linux), and firmware that runs on a peripheral device. I have had no problems with ipw2200 in openbsd. -- Trond Danielsen
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