Freedom Issue #3293
[nvidia-open][nvidia-open-dkms] Only work with proprietary firmware and software
0%
Description
From the README.md
at https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules:
Note that the kernel modules built here must be used with gsp.bin firmware and user-space NVIDIA GPU driver components from a corresponding 515.43.04 driver release.
Perhaps we could remove the code which loads the proprietary firmware from these packages, as the Linux-libre project does, but I don't think they would work without it.
Still, they might function at least somewhat in isolation and they're a small, positive step forwards for freedom, as they may be useful to the Nouveau project and might one day me mainlined in Linux.
History
Updated by gap almost 2 years ago
Also, both packages depend on the following blacklisted packages: linux-headers
and nvidia-utils
.nvidia-open
also depends on the blacklisted linux
package.
Updated by gap almost 2 years ago
IMPORTANT
These packages are blobbed.
I am upgrading the severity of this ticket.
I was poking around in the source files and discovered that these so-called "open" kernel modules are not even "open", and actually contain blobs in the form of very long hex arrays.
This is the same sort of junk that the Linux-libre project has been removing for years.
Some examples:
- https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules/blob/main/src/nvidia/generated/g_bindata_kgspGetBinArchiveBooterLoadUcode_GA100.c
- https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules/blob/main/src/nvidia/generated/g_bindata_kgspGetBinArchiveBooterLoadUcode_GA102.c
- https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules/blob/main/src/nvidia/generated/g_bindata_kgspGetBinArchiveBooterLoadUcode_TU102.c
From now on, I also recommend that we don't add any kernel module packages unless the Linux-libre project has checked them first.
On the bright side, these blobs are licensed under free software licenses, so we are at least free to reverse-engineer them.
What's even more twisted is the main bulk of the recent upgrade patch to this project (https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules/commit/965db985520c0c2aefa56dc2e81f9bfa67e91375) is not bug fixes or features, but is instead these files that accommodate the proprietary microcode, which are auto-generated.
Somehow nVidia still manages to do the wrong thing even when trying (or at least appears to be trying) to do the right thing.
Updated by bill-auger over 1 year ago
- Assignee set to bill-auger
- Status changed from unconfirmed to in progress
these were not so severe; because it is not possible to install them - they are on the blacklist now - the next your-freedom will delete them