El Reg reports
New Chromium builds will no longer download/install the Hotword Shared Module and will automatically remove the module on startup if it was previously installed.
A closed-source and binary-only kernel module caused a fair fuss when it was found inveigling its way into the very much open-source Chromium.
Thanking the community for their attention and input on the issue, one of the project developers told the issues ticket thread that "as of the newly-landed r335874, Chromium builds, by default, will not download this module at all."
[...] An additional developer update regarding Hotword explains that "Builds of Google Chrome will still download this module by default. It will not be activated unless the user explicitly flips a preference to do so."
Related: Google Drops Binary Code into Chromium for Linux
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday June 28 2015, @02:37AM
Again, you're right and wrong. You missed the part about posting to forums, submitting bug reports, etc. I DID specifically say that I am semi-literate. I don't imagine that I am going to solve a problem all by myself. What I can do, is to identify a problem, dabble at trying to find it, then discussing what I've found with people who know more than I do. There have been a lot of cases in which I was entirely wrong. There have been other cases where I was on the right track, but quickly got in over my head. But, the forums are there. I can give feedback. I get responses to my feedback.
Try that with closed source proprietary software, and the response may range from a 'cease and desist' letter, to simply being ignored, or a "thank you" letter and never another word from the owners.
My ability to manipulate and research open source is limited by my own education, talent, motivation, and time. My ability to manipulate and research closed source is limited by the owner's unwillingness to permit me to research it.