Wifi card support
The number of threads on this forum that is regarding unsupported wifi cards, I think, is cause for concern. I think that there needs to be a list of supported cards made more obvious to people new to Trisquel, and a note as to why the majority of them are NOT supported, as well as suggestions for alternatives otherwise people are going to continue to encounter this problem and more and more of these forum threads will be created.
I don't want to deter people from installing Trisquel or discourage them from using free software, but I think people arrive with a preconceived notion that things are just going to work - particularly if they worked beforehand on Windows, Mac or other GNU/Linux distros.
There is http://h-node.org ... and it is not perfect. What matters for Linux-libre's support is the chipset. And it is never indicated on the wrapping because a same model can have its chipset changed during its market lifetime and the manufacturers do not want to change the wrapping. In the end the only reliable solutions are:
- Buy a board or a adapter (hardware DRMs may prevent the Wifi board to be replaced) at http://libre.thinkpenguin.com (using this link, 25% of the profits on the purchase are donated to the Trisquel project) or at http://tehnoetic.com ; the only two vendors that guarantee that the hardware they sell work with Linux-libre;
- Buy a second hand board/adapter whose vendor indicates the actual chipset and that you Linux-libre supports (AR9271 for instance);
- Know somebody that recently bought a board/adapter that works with Linux-libre (not just "Linux"), buy the same and hope the chipset has not changed in between (with shops that buy large amounts at once and the probability is even lower).
The number of threads on this forum that is regarding unsupported wifi cards,
I think, is cause for concern. I think that there needs to be a list of
supported cards made more obvious to people new to Trisquel, and a note as to
why the majority of them are NOT supported, as well as suggestions for
alternatives otherwise people are going to continue to encounter this problem
and more and more of these forum threads will be created.
I don't want to deter people from installing Trisquel or discourage them from
using free software, but I think people arrive with a preconceived notion
that things are just going to work - particularly if they worked beforehand
on Windows, Mac or other GNU/Linux distros.
There is http://h-node.org ... and it is not perfect. What matters for
Linux-libre's support is the chipset. And it is never indicated on the
wrapping because a same model can have its chipset changed during its market
lifetime and the manufacturers do not want to change the wrapping. In the end
the only reliable solutions are:
Buy a board or a adapter (hardware DRMs may prevent the Wifi board to be
replaced) at http://libre.thinkpenguin.com (using this link, 25% of the
profits on the purchase are donated to the Trisquel project) or at
http://tehnoetic.com ; the only two vendors that guarantee that the hardware
they sell work with Linux-libre;
Buy a second hand board/adapter whose vendor indicates the actual chipset and
that you Linux-libre supports (AR9271 for instance);
Know somebody that recently bought a board/adapter that works with
Linux-libre (not just "Linux"), buy the same and hope the chipset has not
changed in between (with shops that buy large amounts at once and the
probability is even lower).