Free software ideology compatible VPS provider

Bump.

marioxcc0 wrote:
> I'm looking for a VPS provider which is compatible with the free
> software philosophy. If you know of a VPS provider which actively
> supports the FS philosophy (like ThinkPenguin does) or a provider
> which at least offers VPS packages for which I wouldn't be founding
> proprietary software please let me know.

I use Cinfu which accepts Bitcoin and uses "Linux" (GNU/Linux). There
are many others as well. The kernel that they use is a Linux kernel
which presumably runs non-free firmware, and some (most?) of the images
are set to use the non-free repositories by default.

I'm not familiar with many that specifically support the GNU Project
ideals, but I haven't done a lot of searching on the subject either.

One possible provider is Ninthfloor.org. They provide shell accounts,
email and web hosting, but not a full VPS. They are also funded by
donations.

Keep in mind that, no matter what the ideals of the provider are, you
can't really rely on a provider to protect your freedom anyway, because
the software is not running on your own computer. Saying that, I think
avoiding paying a company that funds proprietary software (e.g. Windows)
is a good idea.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

Thanks for your answer andrew.

> Keep in mind that, no matter what the ideals of the provider are, you
> can't really rely on a provider to protect your freedom anyway, because
> the software is not running on your own computer.

Right, I'm aware of this. What I want to avoid is giving money to fund proprietary software. Most VPS providers use a proprietary control panel and so far I only know of Corehost which has a policy on free software http://corehost.us/about.html but they're unreachable. I'm currently contacting with GNUtransfer http://gnutransfer.com/, Linode https://linode.com/ and Prgmr http://prgmr.com/. GNUtransfer has already replied to me that they use only free software and their own private software, which is great, but since I don't yet know if it will be suitable for my purpose in other regards.

Sorry for my low level IQ, but what is a VPS? I know what a VPN is and how it works but VPS no.

Bytemark Hosting

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bytemark_Hosting

has their own dedicated data centre (UK) and offers a discount to any customers who publish Free Software using their network.

https://www.bytemark.co.uk/company/manifesto/

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There are cloud based VPS, called BigV and a 1 month free trial is offered.

Steve Kemp, who was previously a DD and writes the site debian-administration.org , was an employee of theirs.

They do offer Windows servers as an option, so not a 100% Free Software outfit.

( Disc* I am in no way affiliated with Bytemark Hosting )

Thanks all of you very much.

GNUtransfer don't offer small packages like the one I need, but they replied that they only use free software and own private software so I recommend checking with them for somebody also looking for a VPS provider. Byte mark is prohibitively expensive for me and even though they seem aware and concerned about the problem of proprietary software, they don't take it very seriously. Linode replied that they financially support the software freedom day, but they don't have a policy on using only free software. I'm currenty trying to reach an agreement with Corehost through negotiation. I'm still looking for more VPS providers that abide by the free software philosophy and therefore suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Changelog:
“still trying to reach an agreement” changed to “currently trying to reach an agreement”.

See VPS with free softwares values here: http://libreplanet.org/wiki/User:Icaro