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| gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs |
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Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 08:32 AM EST
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I thought some of you might be interested in this press release from the Free Software Foundation. They are sponsoring a new distro begun by a couple of guys in Ireland. It's based on Ubuntu and Debian, but with no binary blobs or other nonfree software. The idea, I think, is that Debian is hard for ordinary mortals, and Ubuntu fixed that wonderfully, but there are some binary things added, and this distro, while maintaining the ease of use, will replace binary blobs with free software. I will use this distro myself, for sure.Ted Teah, FSF's free software directory maintainer explained, "With all
the kernel firmware and restricted repositories removed, and the
reliance on Ubuntu's proprietary distribution management tool Launchpad
gone, this distribution is the most advanced GNU/Linux distribution that
has a commitment to be 100% free." I believe this is called a turnaround. Or perhaps I should say turnabout. And you know what they say: turnabout is fair play. You can download the CD now, there will be full security updates, and they have created something called Builder, as well as instructions, so users can create their own personalized distro. Does this sound like fun or what? They would like developers, documentation writers, graphic artists, and volunteers to maintain the website.
***********************************
BOSTON, November 2, 2006 - Free Software Foundation announces release of
gNewSense version 1.0.
(Screenshots available at http://www.fsf.org/news/gnewsense)
gNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org) is a free software GNU/Linux
distribution created by two Irish free software advocates, Brian Brazil
and Paul O'Malley, and is based on the Ubuntu and Debian distributions.
The goal of gNewSense is to provide users with a software package that
offers the stability of Ubuntu with the addition of freedom.
In announcing the release of version 1.0, the gNewSense developers
stated, “From a philosophical perspective we wanted to create a
GNU/Linux distribution where the user has access to all the sources for
all software on the system. This includes everything from the heart of
the kernel through to the everyday desktop applications."
With the avowed goal of providing a completely free distribution - one
without non-free kernel binary "blobs" or any other non-free software,
the Free Software Foundation has announced sponsorship of the project.
Ted Teah, FSF's free software directory maintainer explained, "With all
the kernel firmware and restricted repositories removed, and the
reliance on Ubuntu's proprietary distribution management tool Launchpad
gone, this distribution is the most advanced GNU/Linux distribution that
has a commitment to be 100% free."
gNewSense will provide users with full security updates and is available
for immediate download in LiveCD ISO format along with a version of the
Ubiquity graphical installer. Furthermore, the gNewSense team has
created a set of software called Builder which allows users to create
their own gNewSense-based distributions. gNewSense provides detailed
instructions on how to use the software and the recipe to roll out a
customized distro.
The Free Software Foundation is providing the gNewSense team with a high
end build machine (running with a free BIOS), with bandwidth and with
assistance in developing artwork. The FSF plans to aid widespread
adoption of the distribution and, with the release of gNewSense 1.0, is
making a call for volunteers who have the skills to act as the
following:
* Developers;
* Website Maintainers;
* Graphic Artists;
* Freedom verifiers to monitor package additions and mailing lists;
* Documentation Writers.
To volunteer, please, sign on at irc.freenode.net and /join #gnewsense.
You can also join the mailing list via the project website
http://www.gnewsense.org/
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 08:47 AM EST |
I'm sorry, but I just don't see the point. Debian is already "too
free" for most people, which is one of the reasons we have Ubuntu.
I'm not trying to troll here. I'm just saying that I'm completely baffled at
this. I find it hard to see who is really going to use this.
I know that a lot of replies to this are going to say "people who are
committed to free software will", but that would make this distribution
into little more than a political statement. If you really are uncumfortable
with running any form of non-free software, then all you have to do is not
install that from the non-free repositories in other distributions.
I guess what I want to say here is: "do we really need another distribution
(which do not provide any new features)".[ Reply to This | # ]
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- gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs - Authored by: Jude on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:03 AM EST
- Make your own distro. Don't distribute it. - Authored by: artp on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:13 AM EST
- gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs - Authored by: PJ on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:13 AM EST
- gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs - Authored by: rsteinmetz70112 on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:20 AM EST
- "people who are committed to free software will" - Authored by: DaveJakeman on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:33 AM EST
- gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs - Authored by: Andrew BC on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:01 AM EST
- It may have a following... - Authored by: Wonderbird on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:27 AM EST
- gNewSense - Ubuntu without the binary blobs - Authored by: k12linux on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 02:18 PM EST
- Intended audience of one - Authored by: atheist on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 02:19 PM EST
- Debian isn't living up to its social contract - Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 03 2006 @ 06:40 AM EST
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| Authored by: artp on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 08:55 AM EST |
Instructions for posting HTML is on the bottom.
And now for something completely irrelevant ...[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: artp on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 08:57 AM EST |
| If enny [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Carla Schroder on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:14 AM EST |
Debian main is all free software. The Builder sounds cool,
for building your own distribution. But otherwise- huh??[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Winter on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:43 AM EST |
I think the endorsement by the FSF is ironical.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, the FSF supported Debian. But then Debian
started to include things the FSF considered non-free and there was a fall-out.
On its side, Debian started to label GNU stuff non-free.
The most free distributions is, however, BSD based, as they NEVER include things
they do not put under the BSD license (or so I understood). But I do not expect
to see the FSF endorsing THAT.
Now the FSF supports a distribution of Ubuntu, which the FSF likes even less
than Debian, with the objectional parts removed.
It really DOES demonstrate the power of FLOSS. You CAN get free.
Rob
---
Revenge, Justice, Security, and Revenge, chose any two.[ Reply to This | # ]
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- It's the right direction for the FSF though - Authored by: N. on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:52 AM EST
- Irony redux - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:24 AM EST
- Wow - irony - Authored by: DannyB on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:26 AM EST
- Wow - irony - Authored by: PJ on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:23 PM EST
- Irony - Authored by: PJ on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:20 PM EST
- Irony - Authored by: dbc on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:55 PM EST
- Irony - Authored by: PJ on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 01:03 PM EST
- More free - Authored by: cricketjeff on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 01:25 PM EST
- More free - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 06:46 PM EST
- Is there irony here? - Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, November 06 2006 @ 03:31 AM EST
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| Authored by: pscottdv on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:49 AM EST |
I have always wondered why the FSF doesn't throw more support behind Fedora (and
Red Hat before Fedora). Red Hat has been adamant about keeping the software in
Red Hat and then Fedora for years. I think it is every bit as easy to use as
Ubuntu.
Some Ubuntu users will point out that Ubuntu has better hardware detection, but
that is because of the non-free software they add.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: pscottdv on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:58 AM EST |
The Free Software Foundation is providing the gNewSense team with
a high end build machine (running with a free BIOS)
Does
anyone here know how to get these boards with a Free BIOS? I would like
that! [ Reply to This | # ]
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- Free Bios? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:07 AM EST
- Free Bios? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 01:44 PM EST
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| Authored by: NickFortune on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 09:59 AM EST |
I doubt that the homophone is accidental
Are we sure this isn't a wind up, probably at the expense of the FSF?
And if not, who is it that they intend to inconvenience?[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:16 AM EST |
this kind of thing is proof that we dont need to wory about tivo, or declare
companies like ATI as evil for encouraging binary modules. when somehting
becomes overburnened with non free parts, we can take the parts that are free,
create equivalents for the non free parts, and start agian without them, or in
the
case of tivo make a new box withotu the code signing.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: DannyB on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:18 AM EST |
Please help me obi wan kenobi. You're my only hope.
--
Conflicted.
I started using SuSE 5.2 in 1999.
I run
exclusively Linux at home and nothing else.
I bought (almost) every
upgrade of SuSE up through about eight point something. Then I started
downloading once that option became available. I'm currently on 9.1. Since
that version stopped receiving updates some weeks ago, I'm about to upgrade to
10.2 as soon as it is release.
For years, especially during the time I
was purchasing upgrades, I found myself wanting a totally Free (as well as free)
distribution. But I was happy to pay for all of the effort SuSE put into
assembling a great distribution.
I was/am conflicted. I want an easy
to use turnkey distribution. (Longtime Mac user here until 2000.) Yet I also
want total Freedom. Until recently these were conflicting goals. Maybe they
still are, but less so. In practice, there were non-free packages that I felt I
needed. This is less so today, and getting better as we speak. Eventually
there will be a Free Java, a Free Flesh player, Xine/Mplayer will implement Free
codecs for WMV 7/8/9/10, etc. And I'll be happy to see it, and will use it and
be greatful for the efforts of those behind it.
Yeah, I'm demanding.
I also run a DNS, mail server, web server, etc. And I want that to all be set
up without touching a command line or editing a config file. Just like I used
to do on my Mac. (Yes, I ran these services on a Mac once upon a time!) And
I've seen all the "Perfect Setup" howto's. I don't like tampering with SuSE's
installation system and replacing it with something else (in the past). Now it
seems I could isntall all the packages I need using SuSE sanctioned mechanisms
-- but again, I'm still on 9.1 and about to upgrade to a modern
SuSE.
I've been seriously looking at Ubuntu starting with five point
something. I loved 6.06. Haven't tried 6.10 yet. Now I want to try gNewSense.
(Pronounced? Nuisance?) It is not a quick/easy deal for me to change. I
consider it a big committment.
I love SaX (Suse Advanced
X-configurator). I want X configuration to be fully gui-fied. I never would
have tried to hand edit the old fashioned X config. The newer modern xorg.conf
is easy for me to vim in extra resolutions and color depths, but I still want a
GUI with hardware probing. Lack of X configuration is not a deal-breaker for
Ubuntu, since the new xorg.conf is okay.
A big attraction of Ubuntu is
the apt-get. I've been lusting over that for a long time. It is nice to see
that SuSE has finally caught up -- in a fashion. Lots of repositories. A more
sophisticated package management system that can handle packages of multiple
formats. Plenty of non-free packages to make my life easier.
My
current plan is this. Setup up two machines. A server. A workstation. Server
must run SuSE 10.2 since I am familiar with it. (Installed 10.1 on a friend's
server and help him remotely maintain it. He is also a longtime Mac user, who I
originally hooked into Mac, and later SuSE. Once his server was set up, he
maintaines it himself, and there is not much "maintenance" to actually do, being
mostly automated.)
My workstation will run SuSE 10.2 and Xen. Then
I'll try Ubuntu as a guest OS -- assuming I can figure out Xen well enough to
understand how to install an OS from a bootable CD under Xen. I consider it
highly undesirable to have to install into a Xen domain using any means other
than booting live CD into domain and doing the install.
I'm looking
forward in my next, next generation to build a box that supports hardware
virtualization.
I'm also a KDE man -- not surprising since I'm a
longtime SuSE user. But I've been wanting to switch to Gnome. Im conflicted
about KDE just as I am about non-free packages. For years I've preferred KDE as
a practical matter, but hated its poor choice of licensing (IMHO, gpl vs lgpl).
I've sworn to switch to Gnome as soon as is practical, just as I want to be on
totally Free software, as soon as is practical. Ubuntu's Gnome really made a
profound impression on me. So much so that it is partially why I am now so
conflicted in what to do next. I've outlined my plan, Server on SuSe, Workstion
on SuSE+Xen, then experiment with Ubuntu. Next generation boxes might end up
purely Ubuntu.
My 13 yr old daughter instantly took to KDE a couple
years ago. I don't know how she will make the switch once I make a major
software change. Simply switching SuSE and getting a newer KDE shouldn't be a
problem -- it never has been for me. She'll still have her home directory
intact and all settings.
Enough rambling about how conflicted I am.
Any advice?
---
The price of freedom is eternal litigation. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Prototrm on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:25 AM EST |
At the risk of upsetting PJ by being a Doubting Thomas...
Until recently, I was a huge fan of Suse. What caused me to switch to Ubuntu was
the latest Suse *removing* support for things like my nVidia card and wifi card.
Yes, it was no problem installing them myself (just a PITA), and I understand
their goal of creating a distro free of proprietary software, but it caused me
to wonder what might happen in future versions, and what alternitives were
available *today*. So I tried Ubuntu.
Bottom line, now that I've been introduced to apt-get, and know how to add
repositories myself, I can't see going back to Suse, much as I love Yast2.
Ubuntu is an all-around winner, being both powerful and easy to use.
Back on topic, will this new fork of Ubuntu gain traction? Frankly, I have my
doubts. Wouldn't a user who doesn't want non-free software simply not install
that software in the first place, rather than take the chance on a new distro
that might not have enough community support for their needs?
Anyway, I love the idea of giving people a choice, and if you're going to base a
new distro like this off of something, Ubuntu is perfect.
At least they didn't use Linspire! :)
---
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the
exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Felix_the_Mac on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:26 AM EST |
I respect these people for acting on their principles.
Whilst I don't expect this to make a big splash, I think it unfortunate from a
PR point of view for Ubuntu. We all know how minor issues can get blown out of
proportion within the FOSS community.
I would suggest the Cannonical don't ignore this but rather reach out to
gNewSense and 'bless' it by linking to it from ubuntu.com and putting up a
useful article explaining exactly what the differences are.
Alternatively they could go one step further and do this in house (hopefully in
such a way as to have the support of the gNewSense team).
So they could build images which are identical to K/Ed/Ubuntu but excluding
binary blobs. (I hereby give them the right to call it 'Ubuntu Pure' :-)
Also in the standard installer have a question near the start saying 'Tick here
if you don't want to install any non-gpl material'.
N.B. I don't know anything about the freedom 'issues' with Launchpad.
(Also posted at lwn.net http://lwn.net/Articles/207228/#Comments)
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:33 AM EST |
Like Linus said in his rant about Gnome being too rigid...
KDE simply lets you do more!
No mention of this?
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 10:38 AM EST |
<warning, sarcasm>
Sounds like the FSF are trying to take a page out of Oracles book and 'fork'
linux...
I wonder which will be more sucessful? (other than with PJ :-D)
I personally am ashamed to see what could well be the start of the 'Linux wars'.
It's sad to me to sense that Linux is heading down exactly the same road as
UNIX with people trying to twist it towards suiting their own needs. There has
been a pretty happy common ground for collaboration but it's these stunts by the
FSF that always seem to lower the tone.
***Software is not and should never be a political tool***
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 11:08 AM EST |
I've been looking for this feature for years:
"Ubuntu logos
replaced"
But, until they add a gnu in front of gNewSense and refer
to the distro as gnugNewSense, I'll just stick with Ubuntu.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 11:22 AM EST |
...I would be scratching my head.
I've slightly lost the FSF plot on this one. I have always thought that FSF
needed to be ideologically pure so we could measure the distance between it and
our own actions.
But Mark Shuttleworth feels like one of the good guys. This action has the air
of the resentment of success. And Ubuntu (a distro I have never used and have
no plans on using) seems to have done much to further the cause.
He's shoved a heap of money into K/Ubuntu, he posts you a CD of any version you
like FOC. IIRC he sponsors KDE and Gnome. Probably find he's shoved some money
at FSF.
There's always an interaction between philosophy and society and the degree to
which it happen usually involves a philosophy compromise.
But we don't live in caves and we do pollute the earth.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 11:41 AM EST |
Where do they think the ease-of-use is coming from?
Answer: non-free drivers
People think Linux is hard because installing the nvidia driver isn't automatic.
That's pretty much it, if you ignore Gentoo and Linux From Scratch.
Debian at least puts the GFDL stuff in non-free. This is correct, because the
FSF's GFDL allows for non-modifiable sections. I presume the FSF will
"fix" this, making the result less free than Debian.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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- nvidia - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:18 PM EST
- nvidia - Authored by: PJ on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 01:10 PM EST
- nvidia - Authored by: N. on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 03:45 PM EST
- nvidia - Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 03 2006 @ 04:37 AM EST
- Debian is not "too hard for mortals" - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:39 PM EST
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| Authored by: fuego451 on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 12:17 PM EST |
Though I am not opposed to this idea, I don't understand why they don't just
incorporate ease-of-use items into Debian for those who wish to use them.
However, Debian is already much easier to use than it was, say, nine years ago.
With all the help available nowadays, anyone with a desire to learn
Debian should have few problems. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: raindog on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 01:49 PM EST |
I applaud the FSF for combining the politics of (the original) Debian with the
ease of use of Ubuntu, but something struck me as funny.
this
distro, while maintaining the ease of use, will replace binary blobs with free
software.
The FSF press release doesn't mention replacing the
binary blobs with free software, so I'm wondering what you mean.
For
example, sure, they could supply the non-accelerated, 2D-only NVidia driver and
they could supply GNASH in place of Flash, but, beyond not providing equivalent
functionality to what they would be replacing, those two things are currently
incompatible. GNASH is currently implemented as an OpenGL application. Those
are the only two blobs I ever really deal with, but I'm sure there are other
examples.
I'm typing this under Ubuntu because it was preinstalled by
Emperor Linux on my Thinkpad tablet, which seems to be Centrino, so I'm probably
running other blobs that I don't even know about. I'm guessing my wifi and
fingerprint reader use them, as well as my SD slot if that works at all. If
that's the case, I'm guessing I would just be SOL if I ran Gnuisance, which
would make the bit about "replacing" blobs with free software still less
accurate.
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: zcat on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 02:10 PM EST |
What 'binary blobs' does ubuntu have, other than the clearly marked non-free
packages in the non-default universe and multiverse repositories?
And if someone creates a similar non-free repository for gnusense (which they
probably will!) what is Richard going to do about it?
[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 02:19 PM EST |
Ok, an all free distribution. Go for it.
But beyond that this is all about FSF's redefining "freedom" to fit
their all new GPLv3 anti-tivo revelation. It's about OSS -vs- FSF, not about
Linux. Linux is simply the high profile case-study-du-jour that is being waved
about from the soapbox.
It used to be about choice, but lately certain religious fanatics have decided
that choice is only good if its their choice. I choose freedom. Freedom of
choice, and freedom of religion.
I'll stick with my Slackware. And the Nvidia driver and the two proprietary apps
I run. Without those there's no point in my choosing linux, because I couldn't
do what I need to do with it. It was a choice by those companies to provide
Linux options, they didn't have to. I appreciate that they did because it
broadens my choices. And if someone changes a license to try and take away that
choice, I'll choose another license.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 02:32 PM EST |
What blobs?
Which parts of the base free Ubuntu are bobs? the nVidia accelerated drivers are
in the restricted repository, so it's not them. And the gNewSense web site
doesn't say. And as far as I can tell, Launchpad is the web-site stuff, not
something included in the distro.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: rsmith on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 03:21 PM EST |
Look at the surprises
inside the
windows
Vista EULA.
And
then there is MS's try at
revising
history with regard to the XP EULA.
In my opinion, binary blobs are
an extremely bad idea from a maintenance standpoint, so I avoid them.
But compared to the handcuffs and legirons in the Vista EULA, they're a
minor problem. ---
Intellectual Property is an oxymoron. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 05:39 PM EST |
I think gNewSense is another important step in addressing
one of Linux's greatest deficiencies: we don't have enough
distros. The ultimate goal is obviously to have a 1-to-1
mapping between Linux distributions and Linux users (i.e.
a different distro for each different user), and with
enough efforts like gNewSense I feel confident we'll soon
get there.[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: groklawdranem on Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 11:34 PM EST |
this is the only way some hardware companies will learn they need to supply
'free' open source software; the entire industry needs to hit them where it
hurts most, their pocketbook.......otherwise they continue to sell [sometimes
poor n buggy] hardware and say to themselves 'some enterprising soul will port
a blob' or include their own crippled software lacking in features because they
don't dare show their equally poor code
so........every on three
1
2
3
drop the blob software just like a hot potato ;-)
buy hardware that is open with software that is open[ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 03 2006 @ 08:47 AM EST |
| Those having multi-boot machines should expect gNewSense to destroy hda boot
table for whatever booting software is there, leaving you to reconstruct
same.
Other distro's give a choice about writing but gNewSense never
asked.
Is kNewSense on the way? I dislike Gimp. [ Reply to This | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 03 2006 @ 02:18 PM EST |
Soon-to-be-widespread nickname: gNuisance :)
(unless it turns out to be VERY good).[ Reply to This | # ]
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