Re: Firmware - what are we going to do about it?
On 2022-04-23 22:48:03, Paul van der Vlis wrote:
> Op 23-04-2022 om 16:10 schreef Andrey Rahmatullin:
> > On Sat, Apr 23, 2022 at 03:13:29PM +0200, Paul van der Vlis wrote:
> > > > I see several possible options that the images team can choose from here.
> > > > However, several of these options could undermine the principles of Debian. We
> > > > don't want to make fundamental changes like that without the clear backing of
> > > > the wider project. That's why I'm writing this...
> > >
> > > I have an idea for an extra option:
> > >
> > > 6. Put the closed source firmware somewhere in the Debian images, but never
> > > install closed source firmware by default. "No" should be the default.
> > That's the option 3 more or less.
>
> Option 3 says to publish two sets of images.
> And it says nothing about defaults.
>
> ----
> 3. We could stop pretending that the non-free images are unofficial, and
> maybe move them alongside the normal free images so they're published
> together. This would make them easier to find for people that need them, but
> is likely to cause users to question why we still make any images without
> firmware if they're otherwise identical.
> ----
>
> > > to put "non-free" into sources.list should also be an non-default choice,
> > > even when you install closed source firmware.
> > No, that's a bad idea, which is one of the main reasons for the option 5.
>
> The idea is not to promote closed source firmware in any way. Have it
> available, but only for the people who really want it.
Uh. Have you actually read the start of the thread? Most machines
nowadays *need* it. It's not about wanting, but about the fact that
firmware is needed, and the more barriers you put in front of people,
the more people will just go with Ubuntu or other alternatives.
Making Debian hard to use is a very short-sighted view of how to promote
free software - it works in the very short term only.
regards,
iustin
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