Re: [arch-dev-public] add alsa-firmware to extra?

Tobias Powalowski schrieb:

Hi guys, according to this: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/15090 Some soundcards need additional firmware. any objections in adding this to extra repository?

I'm curious as to why these firmware files aren't included in the kernel? Is this closed-source, but freely distributable firmware?