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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.
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.
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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.
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
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.
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.
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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.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
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