On Thu, 2020-03-05 at 07:24 +0100, Hans de Goede wrote:
> > also clm_blob download is not supported in kernels prior to 4.15 so
> > those files won't work with older kernels.
> 
> That is a valid concern, I'm not sure what the rules for linux-firmware
> are with regards to this.

Not quite sure I understand the problem.

The rules for Linux firmware are just the same as basic engineering
practice for loadable libraries.

If you change the ABI, you change the "soname" of a library, which
equates to changing the filename of a linux-firmware object.

So if you make a new file format for the firmware which requires new
driver support, then you give it a new name. The updated driver can
attempt to load the old firmware filename as a fallback, if it still
supports that, or you just have a clean separation between the two.

The linux-firmware repository then carries *both* files, supporting
both old and new kernels in parallel.