@lp0_on_fire https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/arch/powerpc/platforms/8xx/micropatch.c#n43
That is proprietary software disguised as an array of numbers and the GPLv2 header is *not* the license (I checked the git log and that was rather added by a script).

Before you say; "That's only a small amount", that's like saying; "This well isn't poisoned, it's 99.95% water and only 0.05% proprietary poison".

Any amount of proprietary software in a kernel make the whole thing proprietary, as you cannot exercise the 4 freedoms with all of the kernel.

There are many more cases of such disguised proprietary software in Linux still remaining despite a process starting many years ago to move such proprietary software to a lockstep software release known as "linux-firmware" - although of course such package doesn't contain a single file of actual firmware (that is, a dump of a socketed ROM chip (popular in 90s computers)) - rather it contains immense amount of proprietary peripheral software, alongside just a few free peripheral software programs.

Considering that many drivers in Linux are totally reliant on loading proprietary software from "linux-firmware" to function, I don't buy the idea that "linux-firmware" is separate project and doesn't create massive derivative works.


Thankfully, our GNU/Bros have blessed up with a 100% free version of Linux - GNU Linux-libre; https://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/selibre/linux-libre/