Debian "Squeeze" makes key progress toward being a fully free distribution
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Apparently Debian is no longer distributing the non-free Linux kernel by default.
http://www.fsf.org/news/debian-squeeze-makes-key-progress-toward-being-a-fully-free-distribution
I am a translator!
Besides removing/replacing a few suspect packages from the free repository, like the IceWeasel browser (which still recommends non-free add-ons), the last thing Debian needs to do before it is fully free is get rid of the non-free repository entirely and remove all recommendations for nonfree software from the documentation. That would be a major concession from the Debian camp, but it would complete their transition to being a fully-free distribution. It would be a big accomplishment for the free software movement, because Debian is about the 4th most popular distribution (after Ubuntu, Mint, and Fedora), and in terms of contributions it's probably the most important in the world.
GNU/Linux distros have a long, sordid history with non-free software, but from what I've seen it's largely looking up. I first started flirting with GNU/Linux in late 1990's, when major distros not only shipped with the then-non-free mpg123 (with the additional problem of mp3's being patented in the US) and Qt, but with Netscape Navigator!
In all seriousness, why do other distros ship the blobs when they violate Linux's own license (as Torvalds has said himself)?
I am a translator!
"In all seriousness, why do other distros ship the blobs when they violate Linux's own license (as Torvalds has said himself)?"
The answer is extremely obvious -- they (like Torvalds himself) care more about having as many users as possible than they do about freedom and principles.
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