[Nix-dev] [***SPAM***] HYDRA_DISALLOW_UNFREE=1 allows to install the Linux kernel from kernel.org

[Shea Levy]

Hello,

HYDRA_DISALLOW_UNFREE was designed for our buildfarm, where "unfree" 
means "not legally distributable". Since the kernel is legal to 
distribute despite the binary firmware blobs (I assume that's your 
objection?), HYDRA_DISALLOW_UNFREE will block it.

In general, there's no automatic way to detect what is free and what is 
not, especially considering people's different definitions. 
HYDRA_DISALLOW_UNFREE depends on packagers specifying the license when 
they add an unfree package. If someone were to take the time to add meta 
attributes to each package that is free by their standards (or to every 
one that is not), it would be pretty easy to then provide a way for them 
to ensure their system only has those packages, but that initial work is 
not trivial.

Cheers,
Shea Levy

On 01/12/2013 09:14 AM, Nikita Karetnikov wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've been told some time ago that it's possible to use NixOS without
> non-free packages if I run 'export HYDRA_DISALLOW_UNFREE=1'.
> Unfortunately, it allows to use a non-free version of the Linux kernel.
> Yes, I can change the corresponding recipe.  But can this be done
> automatically?
>
> Also, are there any other non-free packages that can sneak in?
>
> Nikita
>
> P.S. The best solution would be to remove all non-free packages from the
> repos, but I understand that you won't agree.
>
>
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> nix-dev at lists.science.uu.nl
> http://lists.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/nix-dev

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