Re: Meltdown / Spectre

[ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès)]

Mike Gerwitz <mtg@gnu.org> skribis:

> On Tue, Jan 16, 2018 at 12:10:53 +0100, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
>> Should GuixSD nevertheless provide a mechanism to support microcode
>> updates, while not steering users to particular proprietary microcode?
>> Just like Linux-libre (attempts to) support loading of proprietary
>> firmware at the user’s choice?  Would it make sense at all?
>
> Does Linux-Libre specifically support loading proprietary firmware, or
> does the project phrase it as _any_ firmware, free or not, that the user
> may provide?

It obviously supports loading free firmware like what we provide in
Guix.  However, firmware is searched for under a specific file name, you
can tell that some of these correspond to proprietary firmware only.

Now, I wrote “attempts to” because my understanding is that, even though
the project intends to permit it, the deblobbling code often/always
breaks the non-free firmware loading code.

> My point being: if there only exists proprietary microcode, it's hard to
> make the argument that a freedom-respecting user will use a microcode
> update tool for anything other than proprietary software.  In that case,
> does the inclusion of the microcode updater in Guix encourage the use of
> non-free microcode, even if it doesn't state where to get it?

Right, it’s a valid argument.

Thanks,
Ludo’.