Hi list,
foo2zjs open-source printer driver provides support for many old (2004-2012 era) printers, including selected HP LaserJet models. These printers require the firmware which needs to be uploaded to the printer on every power on.
Firmware files are not bundled in foo2zjs. The upstream includes the script called `getweb` which downloads the firmware files from third-party websites and unpacks them. `getweb` is not packaged in Fedora's foo2zjs, which makes HP LaserJets unable to print.
Other source of the firmware files are proprietary hp-plugin packages which are downloaded by `hplip` package. I've changed the script (`getweb-hpplugin`) to download hp-plugin bundles and use files from there.
hp-plugin downloads is packaged in Fedora's hplip package.
The questions are: - Can Fedora include `getweb`, which downloads the firmware files from elsewhere? - If not, can Fedora include `getweb-hpplugin`, which downloads HP plugin files from official openprinting website and extracts firmware from these, as does HP's hplip? - If none could be done, what else could and should be done?
Here's the license.txt found inside hp-plugin: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ValdikSS/ba01bda36f73e85858fd9899773f18c1...
Package: https://packages.fedoraproject.org/pkgs/foo2zjs/foo2zjs/ Discussion with xvitaly about this issue: https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/foo2zjs/pull-request/2#comment-327537
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 7:15 AM ValdikSS via legal legal@lists.fedoraproject.org wrote:
Hi list,
foo2zjs open-source printer driver provides support for many old (2004-2012 era) printers, including selected HP LaserJet models. These printers require the firmware which needs to be uploaded to the printer on every power on.
Firmware files are not bundled in foo2zjs. The upstream includes the script called `getweb` which downloads the firmware files from third-party websites and unpacks them. `getweb` is not packaged in Fedora's foo2zjs, which makes HP LaserJets unable to print.
Other source of the firmware files are proprietary hp-plugin packages which are downloaded by `hplip` package. I've changed the script (`getweb-hpplugin`) to download hp-plugin bundles and use files from there.
hp-plugin downloads is packaged in Fedora's hplip package.
The questions are:
- Can Fedora include `getweb`, which downloads the firmware files from elsewhere?
- If not, can Fedora include `getweb-hpplugin`, which downloads HP plugin files from official openprinting website and extracts firmware from these, as does HP's hplip?
What is the distinction between `getweb` and `getweb-plugin` - is it that `getweb-plugin` downloads a subset of the firmware files that are downloaded by `getweb` (which I guess you are assuming are okay because `hplip` is already packaged in Fedora)?
Richard
On 7/29/26 7:58 PM, Richard Fontana wrote:
What is the distinction between `getweb` and `getweb-plugin` - is it that `getweb-plugin` downloads a subset of the firmware files that are downloaded by `getweb` (which I guess you are assuming are okay because `hplip` is already packaged in Fedora)?
Yes, right now the only difference is the download source. The assumption was that if we download the files from official source, official package, then it's 'better' in legal terms than to download from some kind of a mirror (which might violate possible redistribution rights).
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 1:02 PM ValdikSS iam@valdikss.org.ru wrote:
On 7/29/26 7:58 PM, Richard Fontana wrote:
What is the distinction between `getweb` and `getweb-plugin` - is it that `getweb-plugin` downloads a subset of the firmware files that are downloaded by `getweb` (which I guess you are assuming are okay because `hplip` is already packaged in Fedora)?
Yes, right now the only difference is the download source. The assumption was that if we download the files from official source, official package, then it's 'better' in legal terms than to download from some kind of a mirror (which might violate possible redistribution rights).
OK, so to answer your questions:
"- Can Fedora include `getweb`, which downloads the firmware files from elsewhere?" -> I'd say no "- If not, can Fedora include `getweb-hpplugin`, which downloads HP plugin files from official openprinting website and extracts firmware from these, as does HP's hplip?" -> I'd say yes, assuming there is no Fedora packaging policy that would prohibit this.
Richard
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 1:50 PM Richard Fontana via legal legal@lists.fedoraproject.org wrote:
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 1:02 PM ValdikSS iam@valdikss.org.ru wrote:
On 7/29/26 7:58 PM, Richard Fontana wrote:
What is the distinction between `getweb` and `getweb-plugin` - is it that `getweb-plugin` downloads a subset of the firmware files that are downloaded by `getweb` (which I guess you are assuming are okay because `hplip` is already packaged in Fedora)?
Yes, right now the only difference is the download source. The assumption was that if we download the files from official source, official package, then it's 'better' in legal terms than to download from some kind of a mirror (which might violate possible redistribution rights).
OK, so to answer your questions:
"- Can Fedora include `getweb`, which downloads the firmware files from elsewhere?" -> I'd say no "- If not, can Fedora include `getweb-hpplugin`, which downloads HP plugin files from official openprinting website and extracts firmware from these, as does HP's hplip?" -> I'd say yes, assuming there is no Fedora packaging policy that would prohibit this.
Is there a reason we can't package the firmware from openprinting for these printers? If they allow redistribution without modification, then it's fine to package them in Fedora itself.
On 7/29/26 8:52 PM, Neal Gompa wrote:
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 1:50 PM Richard Fontana via legal legal@lists.fedoraproject.org wrote:
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 1:02 PM ValdikSS iam@valdikss.org.ru wrote:
On 7/29/26 7:58 PM, Richard Fontana wrote:
What is the distinction between `getweb` and `getweb-plugin` - is it that `getweb-plugin` downloads a subset of the firmware files that are downloaded by `getweb` (which I guess you are assuming are okay because `hplip` is already packaged in Fedora)?
Yes, right now the only difference is the download source. The assumption was that if we download the files from official source, official package, then it's 'better' in legal terms than to download from some kind of a mirror (which might violate possible redistribution rights).
OK, so to answer your questions:
"- Can Fedora include `getweb`, which downloads the firmware files from elsewhere?" -> I'd say no "- If not, can Fedora include `getweb-hpplugin`, which downloads HP plugin files from official openprinting website and extracts firmware from these, as does HP's hplip?" -> I'd say yes, assuming there is no Fedora packaging policy that would prohibit this.
Is there a reason we can't package the firmware from openprinting for these printers? If they allow redistribution without modification, then it's fine to package them in Fedora itself.
Openprinting website hosts HP's plugin files. I don't know who is in charge for these files. The license is in my first message. It's up to you to decide if it allows the redistribution.
https://www.openprinting.org/download/printdriver/auxfiles/HP/plugins/
On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 3:18 PM ValdikSS iam@valdikss.org.ru wrote:
On 7/29/26 8:52 PM, Neal Gompa wrote:
Is there a reason we can't package the firmware from openprinting for these printers? If they allow redistribution without modification, then it's fine to package them in Fedora itself.
Openprinting website hosts HP's plugin files. I don't know who is in charge for these files. The license is in my first message. It's up to you to decide if it allows the redistribution.
https://www.openprinting.org/download/printdriver/auxfiles/HP/plugins/
The license would have to be reviewed formally, but I'm not sure if the firmware technical criteria would be satisfied (see: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/legal/license-approval/#_technical_firm... )
Richard
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Neal Gompa -
Richard Fontana -
ValdikSS