Binary blob

[1][2][3][4][5][6] The term blob was first used in database management systems to describe a collection of binary data stored as a single entity.

[7] Most notably, closed-source drivers are very uncommon for non-wireless network interface controllers, which can almost always be configured via standard utilities (like ifconfig) out of the box; Theo de Raadt of OpenBSD attributes this to the work done by a single FreeBSD developer.

[19]: Debian For OpenBSD, project leader Theo de Raadt defends the policy of asking for distribution rights only for microcode firmware.

Implying that the alternative would be for the members of his small project to code free firmware themselves in the assembly language of many chipsets, he pleads "don't load us up with more tasks."

Despite this he favours chipsets that run without firmware and speaks warmly of Asian designs which he describes as slower to market but more mature.

"[25] Most of the drivers for mobile devices running the Android operating system are shipped in binary and are linked against a specific version of the Linux kernel.

Finally, binary blobs can be seen as drawing a line between the portion of the community that believes in free software ideals, rejecting proprietary software, and the portion that sees open source as desirable for purely technical reasons, often lacking a strong opposition to binary blobs "as long as they work".

This fragmentation, and the acceptance of a growing number of proprietary components into Linux, is seen as weakening the ability of the community to resist the trend of manufacturers to increasingly refuse to provide documentation for their binaries.

The BIOS, which functions as a bootloader and supports legacy real mode applications, is a crucial component of many IBM-compatible computers.

EFI is closed source and was eventually adopted by many industry leading hardware manufacturers as UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface).

[33] A completely open source alternative to BIOS and UEFI is libreboot, which was promoted by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).