Votes Are in: All Clear for Debian Lenny

Jan 07, 2009

Debian developers have determined the outcome: proprietary components are acceptable, paving the way for Lenny, the next free distro of Debian GNU/Linux 5.0.

Votes from project members have finally put to rest the Lenny Release General Resolution and thereby confirmed specifics of the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). The debate had raged over whether to accept proprietary firmware in Debian. The furor over the various options proposed by project secretary Manoj Srivestava had culminated last month in his resignation. Bdale Garbee, in his role as acting secretary, was the bringer of good news: the voting developers decided on Option 5, "Assume blobs [microcode driving hardware components] comply with GPL unless proven otherwise." Garbee's announcement goes into specifics about what this means.

Even so, many developers have requested further clarity. As Garbee writes, "[Debian project leader] Steve [McIntyre] and I have discussed it, and we think it's pretty clear. This result means that the Debian Lenny release can proceed as the release team has intended, with the kernel packages currently in the archive."

The complete General Resolution results are summarized here.

Related content

  • Debian Seeking New Project Secretary

    Current balloting for Debian Lenny's future has led to strife in the organization. Secretary of the free project, Manoj Srivastava, has resigned his position. A possible consequence is that the next version will undergo further delay in its release.

    more »
  • Debian Developers to Determine Lenny's Fate

    Free Linux distro Debian has been working steadily on its next version 5.0 of the OS, known as Lenny. Now developers have been called in for a vote to determine the course of its general release.

    more »
  • Debian Lenny Deep Freeze: February Release?

    The countdown for Debian Lenny has begun with the project team putting the code in deep freeze. The release of Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 is expected mid-February.

    more »
  • Debian Kernel Has No Proprietary Firmware

    Debian developer Robert Millan is offering an alternative kernel for Debian's Lenny free Linux distro. Unlike the standard Lenny kernel, it contains no proprietary firmware.

    more »
  • FOSDEM: Pride and Success in 2009

    Over the weekend the Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) took place in Brussels. In his keynote, Mozilla's Mark Surman hoped for Open Source's success and Debian key contributor Bdale Garbee supported its social contract. As an aside, Debian Lenny's target release date was reconfirmed.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Issue 245/2021

Buy this issue as a PDF

Digital Issue: Price $12.99
(incl. VAT)

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source