Debian To Consider Changing How It Treats Closed-Source Firmware
www.phoronix.com

Edit: changed link.

  • angarabebesi
    23·
    3 years ago

    This is very tricky. I’m firmly on the “no closed source binary blobs on my watch” camp. But I also want my wifi and bluetooth to work.

    • PP44
      13·
      3 years ago

      I 100% agree. I’m a free software advocate to everyone around me, but still add the non-free repos to also the laptops/desktop I install, mainly for bluetooth/WiFi… To me, firmware looks like one of the biggest issues of free software…

      • adrianmalacoda
        10·
        3 years ago

        I’m a little bit on the fence about this. I use linux-libre on my desktop and laptop (because I bought hardware specifically for it) but I recognize the limitations of linux-libre for “normal” users or Windows migrants, so I’m loath to try to suggest a linux-libre distro as a beginner’s GNU/Linux.

        I’m thinking having vanilla Linux with non-free drivers/firmware would make libre distros more accessible to “normal” users, so I’m not sure I’m 100% opposed to this. However, I’m cautious of this being a slippery slope. Someone says they need Steam or MS Office or Discord or whatever other non-free thing to function correctly and distros are now pressured to accept non-free userland programs, because they already made the concession to allow non-free firmware. There would need to be an acknowledgement that enabling hardware to function is a special case and not an invitation to allow all sorts of other non-free stuff in the distro.

        With Guix System, which is an FSDG distro (more strict on software freedom than Debian), there is a third party channel that offers vanilla Linux with non-free firmware alongside other non-free userland software. I’ve considered separating Linux into its own channel and advertising it, because while I’m open to allowing non-free firmware for the purpose of enabling hardware I’m still vehemently against non-free software elsewhere.

        • PP44
          3·
          3 years ago

          I also agree with you. As we often encounter when you fight against any dominant model, the balance between acceibility for as many people as possible and the intellectual integretry or even coherence is so difficult. I am in absolute term against ANY proprietary hardware or software. But I try to get people to improve their digital behavior and being stubborn is heavily counterproductive. I do not pretend to have a solution to this dilemma…

  • Arthur BesseMA
    53·
    3 years ago

    It would also be super convenient if Debian could include Microsoft Teams in the default install. /s

    • tallship
      2·
      3 years ago

      Doesn’t GPLv3 endeavor to prohibit Tivoization on consumer devices?

      ⛵

      .

      • Arthur BesseMA
        2·
        3 years ago

        It certainly does, but I’m not sure what that has to do with the subject of this thread.