Re: 04/04: gnu: Add fwupd.

[phodina <phodina@protonmail.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2095 bytes --]

> No, unless you're using a custom update protocol that fwupd does not
> already support.

The user guide[2] likewise states:
> The OEM vendor is in full control over what models are supported and is
> the only entity that can add support for new hardware.

The vendor agreement[3] further grants no freedom safe for the second –
the freedom to make unmodified copies.

Cheers

[1] https://fwupd.org/lvfs/docs/vendors
[2] https://fwupd.org/lvfs/docs/users
[3] https://fwupd.org/lvfs/docs/agreement

Isn't fwupd a package manager which could technically be replaced by guix?
IIUC, fwupd not only receives firmware updates, it also sends the firmware to the device (installing it). While Guix supports installing software, I don't think it supports installing firmware in specific (at least, not yet). And to extend Guix with support for installing firmware, I expect it would use a tool like fwupd to actually send the updated firmware to the hardware.
Greetings,
Maxime.

As Maxime pointed out it's more than just package manager as it installs the firmware for the device (through specific interface). I'd also rather not port this functionality directly into Guix.

Rather as was my intention and Maxime's thought the Guix will use this tool to update the firmware. So maybe create we can create some Guile API that will call fwupd.

This however needs further discussion as not all devices support "identification". By that I mean you can't simply query the HW for ID and the version of firmware. Also there might be the issue with number of applicable firmware updates due to the wear levelong of the storage technology. Or some other limitation.

Also this firmware update should be pushed only when necessary, not on every guix system reconfigure.

This way we can use it the same way as other distros use it and gain the advantage of having it tested on more HW.

The other question concerns the firmware itself. There are open source versions [1] and proprietary (Lenovo, Dell ...). So we need to support only the libre version.

[1] https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fwupd

----
Petr

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 2439 bytes --]