I'm thinking of installing replacing my Trisquel systems with Debian for the sake ofo wifi because I really need it right now.
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I have a lot of school work to do. Next week I'll have 2 or 3 submissions/course work submissions. Debian by default is Free right? If I get the stuff for me to be able to use wifi, that's gonna be the only non-free right? How do I also get the stuff for me to be able to connect via wifi?
Sorry guys, really need it.
"I see programs in the Debian Free repository that are not in Trisquel and threads on the forum explaining why they are not there"
Such as? The only things I know of are a handful of Artistic Licensed programs which FSF considers nonfree with the vague explanation that the license is vague, and Chromium which I think used to have a few unlicensed files by mistake (and I'm pretty sure they fixed it).
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Debian is not a GNU FSDG[1] (Free System Distribution Guidelines) distro, so its packages do not necessarily meet the requirements outlined in the FSDG. The FSDG requires all packages to be free software as a baseline requirement, but then imposes additional requirements on top of that. One of these, for example, is the requirement that "A free system distribution must not steer users towards obtaining any nonfree information for practical use, or encourage them to do so. The system should have no repositories for nonfree software and no specific recipes for installation of particular nonfree programs. Nor should the distribution refer to third-party repositories that are not committed to only including free software; even if they only have free software today, that may not be true tomorrow. Programs in the system should not suggest installing nonfree plugins, documentation, and so on."
There are probably numerous packages in Debian that, although are technically free[2], are not FSDG compliant, since that isn't (unfortunately) a mission of Debian's. Iceweasel is one such example; although it is a rebranded Firefox (and hence is free software itself) it uses the Mozilla addons repository which does contain non-free extensions, thereby rendering Iceweasel non-FSDG. By contrast, Trisquel's Abrowser uses Trisquel's own addons repository which has the same free software requirements Trisquel itself has.
Plenty of people in the Trisquel community (and probably the wiser GNU/Linux-libre community) tend to conflate non-free and non-FSDG together, since neither of them are desirable for a GNU FSDG system such as Trisquel.
[1] http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
[2] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
Some of those h-node entries show wifi cards that are compatible with free software. For those cards' names ... how do I tell whether that's the marketing name, or the chipset name?
If a name has a long string of numbers, is it a chipset name for sure?
Are all Atheros chipsets free sw compatible?
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No. Atheros ath10k chipsets are not free software friendly. They depend on non-free firmware currently. I would also advise against the cheapest Atheros cards on eBay. They don't work well and will cause problems with power management. I also recommend staying away from Atheros combo cards. The bluetooth chips in them are dependent on non-free firmware as well. Most other 802.11n atheros cards are probably OK.
h-node can be flaky in some areas from what little I've used it. Unfortunately vetting hardware can be trickier than it initially seems as there are a variety of circumstances where something will appear to be free software friendly and isn't actually free software friendly.
I've never been a fan of databases because they just don't work that well for a variety of reasons. However that said h-node is better than any other database for one reason alone: it attempts to eliminate hardware that is non-free and such hardware can create both technical and ethical issues for users.
Please don't use ebay ... ebay uses no-free java-script :).
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I've always known Debian to be free by default. At least they claim that it is. I don't know of the programs Heather is referring to, but it may well be that there's something I haven't seen.
Seriously though, stick with Trisquel and get a freedom-compatible WiFi adaptor. You can pick them up dirt cheap. Even a student can afford them! (Price of 2 beers? Come on!)
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A wifi adaptor might not be low-pricy for everyone. Some people are less fortunate financially.
Anyway I agree - it is worth it , definitely !!
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WiFi dongle which works with Trisquel - 44$ -> https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb
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Also RYF-certified Tehnoetic TETN150: http://tehnoetic.com/adapter
$25, not $44.
There's also the one that costs $22, if you don't mind it being slightly bigger than a USB flash drive.
I'm already using Debian as I speak. 6.7.0 to be exact, and did dist-upgrade. Is my Debian Free Software right now? Can someone help me set up wireless networking, and yes I know I'll be using non-free stuff.
If you're using Debian 6 you might as well use GnewSense instead:
http://www.gnewsense.org/
Please, type this beforehand and paste it so we can see your wifi device:
$ lspci
Perhaps you have a freedom friendly wifi device but we don't know.
If you liked trisquel in principle, why didn't you just switch to ubuntu?
I mean yes, the system you are using now is free software, but obviously you want to install the non-free firmware to make your wifi work, so why not just use ubuntu instead.
Btw, people here won't help you install non-free stuff, so you're better off in a debian forum.
But installing Ubuntu is worse than Debian right?
As per the lspci: http://codepad.org/amh4KQZz
Just add Debian's repos and download Linux from there, and then turn the repo off so the rest of the system is Trisquel!
If you prefer Trisquel there are ways to use the nonfree firmware but I'm afraid to say it here. However, I would prefer Debian.
Please do tell me. I'm also switching back to Trisquel :)
But I still need that wifi, so can you please tell me?
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Pogiako 12345
Puwede kitang matulunagn sa Wifi mo kung gusto mo....Sabihin mo lang.
If you are using Trisquel because of the FSF philosophy/ideals then it does not make sense adding non-free software or blobs. Better to use the WiFi adaptors as suggested. If the philosophy does not matter to you, then why not just switch to another distro.
Note: this is coming from someone who distrohopped his way from Windows to Ubuntu to Debian to Debian net install (minimalist) to Crunchbang Linux and finally settled on Trisquel! So I understand the concerns. For me Trisquel matches all my needs including the philosophy.
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Here is my tid-bit of advice. Even if you don't use 100% free software- avoid as much of it as you can. I seriously doubt anybody is going to argue against that. While I'd agree with the sentiment of why use Trisquel if you don't care the reality is you do care, but it can be a difficult/near impossible proposition to switch to completely free software/hardware in an instant. Switching takes time. Be it a week to get a wifi card or even years- if your switching careers to avoid it.
There isn't a single user here who isn't using some non-free software. That isn't an excuse to use non-free software. It's the reality. We can pretend we aren't, we can avoid Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint (which are more and more non-free the further you go in that list), we can buy the free software friendly hardware, but at the end of the day the reality is everybody is just avoiding non-free software to the extent each is individually technically and feasibility able to.
Short of a near unusable configuration (hardware that may only works for a few months and be extremely slow) or abandoning computers altogether I know if no way to completely eliminate every bit of non-free software (and even then it might not actually be abandoning it completely) at this time no matter how many thousands you might have to spend on it.
We're all dependent on non-free software in some way- even if it's merely by extension (ie the food companies that deliver the food to the grocery stores depend on non-free software to manage inventory, etc).
Push for free software. Do what you can. Don't let these things stop you from caring. If you can't pull off switching today save it for another day. Just keep making progress as best you can. Don't become comfortable with what you have achieved thus far. Keep pushing.
+1
Ending up using Trisquel GNU/Linux took over 20 years of two steps
forward one step, one step back progress for me and I still falter at
times. A suitable fully free system wasn't available for much of that
time and isn't always now. So e.g. I still have to use Debian for ARM
based Maker projects (BeagleBone Black).
If you were go away with one thing I would say:
Learn to maximise your software freedom.
Just a repost: if you actually wanted Debian 6 try GnewSense.
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