Re: Changing how we handle non-free firmware
On Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 11:32:23AM -0500, Gunnar Wolf wrote:
>
> If a free installer is still produced and offered alongside the one
> including non-free-firmware, would you feel more at ease? That sounds
> like an easy compromise to make, and many people would probably
> welcome it.
>
> Debian would recommend the one with non-free-firmware, for the
> purposes of enabling users to install on current hardware, but both
> would be available.
Whether we recommend the one with non-free firmware or not (some have
proposed that the "free" installer would have "visual priority",
whatever that means), I suspect there will be various Linux newbie or
FAQ's, external to Debian, that will warn users that the using the
"free" installer will just cause them pain and frustration.
So there may be some unintended consequences where new users may
associate "100% free software" with "not functional" and "induces pain
and frustration", such that it might end up *hurting* the cause of
free software.
- Ted
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