Is closed source not allowed for Linux?

If you want an open source SD card formatter for Linux, you can mkfs.vfat /dev/mmcblk0 all day long, works just fine.

It's allowed but people who use Linux want to know about these things ahead of time, as many of us seek to reduce the amount of closed-sourced code running on our systems to give us peace of mind.

Would you entrust a software you can’t audit to format your computer’s disks?

People who use Windows or Mac do that all the time?

Would you entrust a software you can’t audit to format a device with software you can’t audit?

It may be proprietary but it's developed by Tuxera, the same lads who created and maintain the NTFS drivers for Linux.

If it's a choice between preparing my sd cards with open partitioning tools, or running some non-auditable official tool in binary form, it is an easy choice.

I'll do the former, as I always have.

By the way, a cool quote from the agreement preceding the download page:

>3. RESTRICTIONS: You agree to NOT: (a) disassemble, reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive any source code for the SDA Software from executable code;

They really, really do not want us to know what this binary does.

> 3. RESTRICTIONS: You agree to NOT: (a) disassemble, reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive any source code for the SDA Software from executable code;

Depending on where you live, this might have no legal effect. Some jurisdictions allow explicitly for reverse engineering & co. for different purposes (e.g. research, interoperability with other systems, etc.).

So what? Don't get ne wrong, tuxera is cool but this still does not make it free software.

SD Cards have computers inside of them. Security conscious users will be really worried using a blob for their stuff.

Hard drives, USB sticks and SSDs too...

Are there any open source sd card firmwares?

Would be an interesting project, I have no idea how you could reprogram them though.

Some manufacturers have proprietary undocumented APIs that allow the host to upgrade the firmware in the card, but I’m not sure every maker does, and very sure most wouldn’t bother to update their firmware unless some horrendous issue came up.