Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Re: Freedom issues with non-free firmware in external files

[Richard Stallman]

    With a driver composed by a GPL'd module and a non-free firmware, you
    cannot have, nor provide the four freedoms. You don't have the code for
    all the required pieces, so you cannot modify it and thus you cannot
    redistribute your changes. You cannot use it freely, so in fact you have
    non of the four freedoms.

    This kind of driver is not free software.

The driver ITSELF is free software.  But there is no way to use
it in the Free World.  This is what we call "trapped".
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/java-trap.html.

When a free program is trapped in this way, we have the possibility of
letting it out of the trap by dealing with the non-free program it
depends on.  For instance, if we can replace the non-free firmware,
or convince the company to free it, then the driver will be ok.