XPost: alt.os.linux, alt.linux, comp.os.linux.hardware
In comp.os.linux.portable Nuno Silva <
nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 2024-07-27, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Based on this page that seems likely because it claims that Apple
Macbooks have used Broadcom WiFi chipsets since 2008, and those
drivers aren't included in Debian by defaut because they're classed
as "non-free":
https://wiki.debian.org/MacBook/Wireless
What that page states seems to be that the Broadcom WLAN NICs used in MacBooks "work"[*] with the in-kernel open driver, and that the
proprietary part missing is the firmware[**].
Ah right, I wasn't sure if it was like a Realtek Ethernet driver I
use where Debian put it in "non-free" because it includes the
firmware as binary data in the driver's source code. There's also
an in-kernel driver for that which is "free" but it doesn't work at
all (it just creates a network interface that doesn't do anything).
[*] As far as a Broadcom Wireless NIC can work, which isn't much, hence
the quotes.
Well my home WiFi actually runs from a Broadcom chip in a wireless
router running OpenWrt (and the b43 driver with firmware files in /lib/firmware/b43, I see, not sure which package they came from).
It is rather crippled for performance with the Linux driver, but
hasn't been unreliable.
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