linux-firmware RPM package

[Matthias Weckbecker]

Hi,

the linux-firmware package has recently added a requires in its spec for
a bunch of other firmware packages: atheros-firmware, brcmfmac-firmware,
mt7xxx-firmware, and realtek-firmware.

Is this intentional? I don't have hardware in my computer that requires
the atheros firmware. It makes me slightly uneasy to install those blobs
if I don't absolutely have to.

Matthias

[Dan Horák]

On Sun, 30 Apr 2023 12:00:30 +0200
Matthias Weckbecker  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> the linux-firmware package has recently added a requires in its spec for
> a bunch of other firmware packages: atheros-firmware, brcmfmac-firmware,
> mt7xxx-firmware, and realtek-firmware.
>
> Is this intentional? I don't have hardware in my computer that requires
> the atheros firmware. It makes me slightly uneasy to install those blobs
> if I don't absolutely have to.

the new subpackages are the way how to leave the unneeded firmwares out,
similar to what was done for the GPU firmware earlier. There is nothing
new installed on your system, all files have been part of the main
linux-firmware rpm until now. To keep the upgrade path working the new
subpackages are "Requires" for F <= 38, but only "Recommends" for
F >= 39, see
https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/linux-firmware/c/be92a95e169422f1108bce0a...
for details.

Dan

[Matthias Weckbecker]

Hi Dan,

On Sun, Apr 30, 2023 at 12:16:02PM +0200, Dan Horák wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Apr 2023 12:00:30 +0200
> Matthias Weckbecker  wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > the linux-firmware package has recently added a requires in its spec for
> > a bunch of other firmware packages: atheros-firmware, brcmfmac-firmware,
> > mt7xxx-firmware, and realtek-firmware.
> >
> > Is this intentional? I don't have hardware in my computer that requires
> > the atheros firmware. It makes me slightly uneasy to install those blobs
> > if I don't absolutely have to.
>
> the new subpackages are the way how to leave the unneeded firmwares out,
> similar to what was done for the GPU firmware earlier. There is nothing
> new installed on your system, all files have been part of the main
> linux-firmware rpm until now. To keep the upgrade path working the new
> subpackages are "Requires" for F <= 38, but only "Recommends" for
> F >= 39, see
> https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/linux-firmware/c/be92a95e169422f1108bce0a...
> for details.

thank you! That's exactly what I was hoping for. I vaguely remember that
something similar was done with gpu firmware packages in the past.

Matthias
> Dan
>
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[Peter Robinson]

On Sun, Apr 30, 2023 at 11:48 AM Matthias Weckbecker
 wrote:
> Hi Dan,
>
> On Sun, Apr 30, 2023 at 12:16:02PM +0200, Dan Horák wrote:
> > On Sun, 30 Apr 2023 12:00:30 +0200
> > Matthias Weckbecker  wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > the linux-firmware package has recently added a requires in its spec for
> > > a bunch of other firmware packages: atheros-firmware, brcmfmac-firmware,
> > > mt7xxx-firmware, and realtek-firmware.
> > >
> > > Is this intentional? I don't have hardware in my computer that requires
> > > the atheros firmware. It makes me slightly uneasy to install those blobs
> > > if I don't absolutely have to.
> >
> > the new subpackages are the way how to leave the unneeded firmwares out,
> > similar to what was done for the GPU firmware earlier. There is nothing
> > new installed on your system, all files have been part of the main
> > linux-firmware rpm until now. To keep the upgrade path working the new
> > subpackages are "Requires" for F <= 38, but only "Recommends" for
> > F >= 39, see
> > https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/linux-firmware/c/be92a95e169422f1108bce0a...
> > for details.
>
> thank you! That's exactly what I was hoping for. I vaguely remember that
> something similar was done with gpu firmware packages in the past.

Correct, and when I initially did those with the soft deps on
exisiting installs things broke and people came out with pitch forks
so we do it like this to ensure upgrade paths as people like to have
their HW continue to work funnily enough, especially when it comes to
network and displays :)

Peter