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Re: Which driver for RealTek RTL8168 ethernet interface card? [SOLVED]

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People,

My thanks to all of you for the useful reactions
to my question. I will try to summarise what
was said.

1.   The ethernet internet card (in my case a
        chip set on the motherboard) requires
        "firmware" and not software. [In fact when
        I wrote "software" in my initial post, I was
        looking for an English equivalent of the
        Dutch "programatuur" or French "logiciel".]
        Hence the misunderstanding, which I first
        thought was a semantic storm in a linguistic
        glass of water for not using a word like
        "programming" instead.  An informative
        website which helped me see things in
        perspective.
       <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware>

2.   Since the internet connection already works,
       one may assume that some firmware already
       exists in the ethernet interface to enable it to
       function, albeit maybe without "optional
       features" as one respondent put it. However
       nobody has suggested that my computer
       would suffer harm by not installing the extra
       firmware. Maybe some lost speed but that's all.

3.  From 1. and 2. I have concluded that the non-free
      "programming" added to the interface hardware
      is non-volatile (i.e. persistent); which raises the
      question how does one de-install the non-free
      firmware should that ever be necessary in the
      future? [Or have I got it wrong again??]

4.  Some people have indicated clear philosophical
      objections to installing non-free firmware.

Again thanks to all of you for your advice.

M.A. Perry
-- 
Sent from my unwashed Linux box

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Re: Which driver for RealTek RTL8168 ethernet interface card?  [SOLVED] "M.A. Perry" <maperry@zeelandnet.nl> - 2017-01-15 10:20 +0100
  Re: Which driver for RealTek RTL8168 ethernet interface card? [SOLVED] Jeremy Nicoll <jn.ml.dbn.25@letterboxes.org> - 2017-01-15 10:30 +0100
    Re: Which driver for RealTek RTL8168 ethernet interface card?  [SOLVED] "M.A. Perry" <maperry@zeelandnet.nl> - 2017-01-15 12:20 +0100

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