iwlwifi and free firmware

Hi guys,
I just installed Debian and realized there's no way to get wifi working.
It says I'm supposed to install firmware for my Intel Wifi chipset.
However, it's mentioned that the necessary firmware is "non-free".
What does it exactly mean ? Is it only a license matter or is the source closed as well ?
I do matter installing only open source stuff, hence if the needed firmware ain't open source, or if there's no alternative way, I'd rather buy another mini-pci wifi card for my laptop. Which one would you recommend then ?

Thanks in advance

Have a read of this Debian how to

It will answer your questions and will show you how to get your wireless card working.

It's just a license matter. Have a look at https://www.debian.org/intro/free. It's like the company keep the copyright but the program is still available to you

Change your sources list so that the relevant line(s) end: main contrib non-free

To do this, AS ROOT issue the command in a Terminal: nano /etc/apt/sources list. Change the line(s). Save. Close.

Connect, temporarily, to your router by cable

Do in a Terminal AS ROOT:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

iwlwifi will now be available to you.

Do in a Terminal AS ROOT: apt-get install iwlwifi

Disconnect from cable. Reboot. Wireless should not be available.

Thank you for both your answers but it doesn't fully answer my main question which is to know if those firmwares installed from the non-free repository are open source or not.

I read the article about the definition of "free" according to the debian community, but it doesn't say explicitly how to regard "non-free" programs.

From the repo of iwlwifi https://github.com/alonbl/gentoo-wik...i/Iwlwifi.wiki we can read that the software itself is open source, but how about the modules that will be loaded by the software ?

Originally Posted by linuxian06 Thank you for both your answers but it doesn't fully answer my main question which is to know if those firmwares installed from the non-free repository are open source or not.

Non-free is essentially synonymous with non-open-source.

Also, open-source isn't just about source code. Availability of source code is just one component of being open source, there are many other requirements for a program to be called open-source.

Originally Posted by linuxian06 I read the article about the definition of "free" according to the debian community, but it doesn't say explicitly how to regard "non-free" programs.

Non-free programs are not free software.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software

Maybe this diagram will help:

http://www.vavalu.net/wordpress/wp-c...d-non-free.gif

Originally Posted by linuxian06 From the repo of iwlwifi https://github.com/alonbl/gentoo-wik...i/Iwlwifi.wiki we can read that the software itself is open source, but how about the modules that will be loaded by the software ?

The modules are non-free. The source isn't available and the license is not a free/open-source license.

Thank you for both your answers but it doesn't fully answer my main question which is to know if those firmwares installed from the non-free repository are open source or not.

The firmware is not open source. The license details are reported on their site

http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/...lwifi#Firmware
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/ker...rmware?id=HEAD

Well that's what bothered me...
So there is no open source alternative then, is there ?
If so, what replacement to my intel 5100 would you recommend that has fully free open source firmware (mini-pci) ?

There are a handful of devices that don't require non-free firmware. Some listed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...reless_drivers

Good luck.

Hi,

you might be able to find suitable hardware if you dig through the links at https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw. In particular http://h-node.org may be of interest.

Good luck,

Evo2.