FSF-Sponsored gNewSense 2.1 Released

An anonymous reader writes "gNewSense, the fully-free GNU/Linux distribution sponsored by the FSF, has released a 2.1 live CD (torrent). Since the last release, more non-free binary blobs have been removed, new artwork has been added and lots of other improvements have been made. It's also two years since the first edition of gNewSense, and in that time an impressive ten live CDs have been released! gNewSense 2.1 DeltaH is based on Ubuntu Hardy, and removes non-free software that other distributions don't." I wonder if gNewSense can be easily installed on an OLPC XO the way several other distros can.

Comments

Re:How usable is it though?

[byolinux]

A lot of wireless cards require non-free firmware, but not all do.

Graphics work well, but the very latest cards don't have 3d, neither do the nVidia cards.

Certainly any laptop with Atheros wireless, Intel graphics and sound is going to work nicely.

Re:How usable is it though?

[saibot834]

You're missing the point in having a free (as in freedom) operating system. This is not about "getting hardware support at any costs" but "having a free os". Of course some hardware won't work with GNewSense. But this way, the distro supports hardware manufacturers who release their drivers under a free license (because their user don't have any problems!).

It is a question of what is more important to you: 100% hardware support or freedom.

Re:How usable is it though?

[Kamping_kaiser]

The graphics will work, but you have no GLX. (So no hardware acceleration for a start).

Re:OK, I'm assuming the play on words is intention

[bushing]

Who is this supposed to be a nuisance to?

It's a reference to RMS (or his PGP^H^H^HGPG key):

"The name originated as Gnusiance as a reference to RMS's GPG key, but was later changed to gNewSense by bbrazil and ompaul to also capture the New Sense of the distribution and as a pun on GNU."

http://www.gnewsense.org/index.php?n=FAQ.FAQ#toc4

Re:How usable is it though?

[byolinux]

No, this distro contains code covered by a variety of licenses, not just the GPL.

And RMS doesn't say anything about BSD being non-free, but rather just that copyleft is his way to ensure that everyone receiving a copy of the GPL licensed software has the same opportunities as the person or company distributing it.

Re:good start

[bbrazil]

Given his strong opinion on the topic of non-Free software, I can't really understand this sentence: "Since the last release, more non-free binary blobs have been removed, ....". Does that mean GNewSense included and still includes non-Free blob's?

We keep finding more of them in odd places.

See http://bugs.gnewsense.org/Bugs/00164 for the background to that particular sentence. In Hardy, some non-free blobs moved from the kernel to a package we'd never heard about before. Once this was reported, they were removed within 5 hours.

I'm not currently aware of any non-free blobs in gNewSense. To ensure it stays that way, some time ago we kicked off an exhaustive check of the Kernel, which has already gone through all the "hotspots". We also did a check of all of 'main' for 1.1.

Re:What hardware does this support?

[byolinux]

http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw

Knowing which hardware devices support GNU/Linux is important not only for practical reasons---you want your hardware to work with the software that you want to use---but also for ethical and political reasons. You can help the free software movement by purchasing hardware from manufacturers who support our goals and not purchasing from those who don't.

Re:How usable is it though?

[arotenbe]

That's the specific distributions, not the license itself.

Re:How usable is it though?

[LWATCDR]

Your really out of date. The latest ATI drivers are actually very good.
Now one or two years ago what you are saying is true but not now.

Re:OK, I'm assuming the play on words is intention

[compro01]

on the MIT public keyserver

sig 135EA668 Richard Stallman (Chief GNUisance)

http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=0x894A158D

Re: Debian 100% free

[gringer]

While Debian (main) is 100% free, there are considered-useful packages that are very commonly distributed with Debian that are non-free.

http://nonfree.alioth.debian.org/
http://www.debian.org/social_contract

"We will support people who create or use both free and non-free works on Debian. We will never make the system require the use of a non-free component.... We acknowledge that some of our users require the use of works that do not conform to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. We have created "contrib" and "non-free" areas in our archive for these works. The packages in these areas are not part of the Debian system, although they have been configured for use with Debian."

The reason the FSF (and RMS) won't promote Debian is because of the non-free components that are in the most common standard installations of Debian.

Re:OK, I'm assuming the play on words is intention

[bbrazil]

Actually Gnubuntu existed first (November 2005), but nothing more than an IRC channel and some artwork came of it. We started talking about gNewSense in May 2006 as a way to make Gnubuntu happen, with the first release 2 years ago today (August 25th 2006).

A quick check indicates that Gobuntu was first released July 10th 2007.

See https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2005-November/013261.html http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/130

Re:It's not made for people who would care.

[Raenex]

You've probably never seen Pulp Fiction:

"Bring out The Gimp"

This movie was quite popular with the college crowd. I was in college myself when I saw it. The GIMP, written by a couple of college students, came out soon afterwards.