Re: Debian Stretch new user report (vs Linux Mint)
On Sun, Dec 03, 2017 at 09:17:59PM +0100, Thomas Goirand wrote:
I at least, and probably a lot of Debian contributors, would start
hating Debian for promoting hardware that needs non-free drivers if the
non-free ISO was the default one.
Are we promoting hardware that *doesn't* require non-free firmware (not
drivers, there is an important distinction) at the moment? I don't think
so. Where are we prominently explaining the problem? Where are the links
to the unencumbered hardware that people could/should be using instead?
Where are the Debian developers working on better supporting such
hardware, where are the blog posts on Planet Debian about it, where are
the unencumbered hardware platforms being distributed with Debian
pre-installed?
Instead we prevent close to 100% of our new potential users from
installing on their laptops due to the firmware issue. Those users are
much more likely to go elsewhere than to be educated as to the merits of
free software and unencumbered hardware.
Are *you* using non-free firmware?
I can understand the discomfort of grasping this nettle. But are you
completely closed to the idea of revisiting our core value documents
at all? The Social Contract and DFSG were written a long time ago.
Should the project not be open to looking at what our collective values
are today, or are we beholden to the terms layed down by braver people,
all those years ago?
--
Jonathan Dowland
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