LibertyBSD - OpenBSD minus the blobs

It seems that the linked to archive has scrubbed the text from the original email. A more easily readable version can be found here: https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2014-12/msg00002.html

Oh, and also, a request for anyone interested: Even if you can't donate, please help a submission about LibertyBSD be accepted on Slashdot - http://slashdot.org/submission/4088331/openbsd-forked-to-remove-non-free-firmware

Here is a direct link: http://libertybsd.net/

Apparently, the developers won't release anything until 3 BTC have been donated. Smells a bit fishy if you ask me...

I've been curious about BSD myself, and just a couple weeks ago thought something akin to "If only there was a BSD variant that respected freedom and wouldn't recommend proprietary software"- well, now there is, I hope.
The fact that they are demanding three BitCoins is rather fishy- I'm suspicious that LibertyBSD exists at all

Seems a bit fishy, you can try kNuBSD on Parabola GNU/Linux-libre for free.
https://wiki.parabola.nu/Parabola_GNU/kNuBSD-fire

This operating system is a scam. There's no knowing if it exists in the first place. No one in their right mind would cough up 3 BTC for software they can't even demo.

Wait for and contribute to NuBSD. They're forking FreeBSD, and they actually care about community. This guy is clearly in it purely for the money, likely hasn't done any work except that awful website, and even if there is software, the project will likely be abandoned.

I am the developer, and I can prove that this is not a scam. You can download the cd56.iso (without source) at http://www.libertybsd.net/cd56.iso

It doesn't contain the sets, so you won't be able to actually install a working system with it, but it does contain the installation scripts. Check /etc/firmware and you will see that no non-free firmware has been included.

Now that I've proven that I actually do have the system, can I ask that you please support it? Compared to other projects such as the Librem Laptop [1], which will be released once $250,000 has been raised, I think a price of 3BTC is quite reasonable.

Also, if you make a donation, I might be willing to send a CD to your house, or let you download a pre-release version. Contact me for details: name at domain

[1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop

Yeah, can't help but find it fishy as well. Generally you'd want to have a project going before asking for donations. The only time one might be able to get away with getting money up front is by being well known in the community. I'll wait on this one.

Is there anything else that I can do to convince you that LibertyBSD actually exists?

Read the article correctly
The article says selling free software
and The free software must possess the four freedoms

You violated the four freedoms

you say that you only provide a non-functional binary .iso without the source code and
sell a DVD with working one you ask people not to share and distribute.
the software until the fundraiser is over (or two months after the purchase date, if the fundraiser
is unsuccessful)

i wrote a song abou your os. It's titled "Smells like fish spirit"

orthogonal released the cd56.iso- I did a quick comparison of OpenBSD's ISO and LibertyBSD's ISO:

LibertyBSD:
8.0 MB in size

OpenBSD:
8.8 MB in size

That's all the comparison that's possible without the source code.
Something was removed. Perhaps it was the blobs?

I've just heard that some people are unable to donate/buy CDs because they don't have a Bitcoin wallet, so I've included instructions on how to pay using Paypal or credit card:
http://www.libertybsd.net/#nobitcoin

I've also contacted the FSF to ask about escrow, so hopefully that will work. If not, is there any trusted member of the community that would like to volunteer?

Riley:

I'm glad that you found my suggestion useful and chose to use it. Thanks as well.

>*I don't see any harm in continuing to accept donations during the public comments period, even if the escrow service wouldn't start until the end of it (which, coincidentally, would seem to be the end of the FSF's campaign). I might be missing something extremely obvious, though, so tell me if I am. :)

I may have not explained myself correctly. In my proposal, the escrow
would begin to receive donations on your behalf when the public comments period begins (Hence that I suggested to wait until the FSF fundraising ends, and that also gives you time to have found people for the escrow). I think that you understood that my proposal was to open the escrow for donations after the public comments period. This would also work, but it doesn't given people who would donate only through a third party the option to donate that way immediately; they'd have to hold the money until the public comments period ends; this is of course, also a matter of judgement and it isn't critical whether to open the escrow for donations when the comments period begins or ends.

Of course, you need not stop accepting donations at any point. You can accept donations directly and through the escrow at the same time, and leave the choice on which way to donate to the donnors' discrection.

I don't know if the FSF would be willing to act as an escrow, but it's fine that you asked. I suggest that you continue seeking people to act as the escrow, for instance, by asking in places where free software supporters tend to meet (Such as here, especially if you start a new thread) or in the mailing lists. I see that you made the announcement in gnu-linux-libre, so mentioning the plan of using an escrow and asking for volunteers that have substantially contributed to free software is a good continuation; you can link to this thread. You can also ask free software supporters directly. Some may recommend you other people to whom you may ask, and so on, recursively. I can think of:

Sylvain Beucler name at domain>, : long-time administrator of GNU Savannh, who has since left that position.

Yoni Rabkin : long-time developer of GNU free software (see his web site), and also volunteers to answer the mails at name at domain.

Rubén, the founder and main developer (I think) of Trisquel. He's usually on #trisquel in irc.freenode.net as “quidam”.

Matt Lee : Campaigns manager of the FSF. “mattl” on Freenode.

Karl Berry : I don't know what he does exactly, but some years ago he was often the one to reply when I wrote to the GNU and FSF contact e-mail addresses and he also participated sometimes in GNU Savannah.

I'm not listing Richard Stallman because he is likely too busy to act as escrow, but you can ask him anyway, or ask him instead for people who may want to act as escrow.

There's a lot of people that you can ask to act as escrow, or you can ask for people who may want to act as escrow. I have to go right now, so I didn't write about more people; I may also have left several writing errors for the same reason. Also try the fully free distribution mailing lists and consider writing to the OpenBSD mailing lists or forums, but expect a mostly negative answer since that people don't tend to care about ethics of software; some may say something productive, however.

I also don't like the philosphy of *BSD people and what they're doing of writing permissive alternatives to copylefted programs, such as GCC, etc... since it wastes an opportunity to push free software for people who may use it on purely practical concerns. However, LibertyBSD doesn't do this as far as I understand, instead it offers to take that existing software and make it possible to use it without use the proprietary software that the OpenBSD people added as well, so I hope it succeds in doing what I think it will do.

I'm composing the specification, and I'd like to seek clarification on something.

Some manual pages contain references to firmware files for use in free drivers. They do not specifically mention that the firmware is non-free, but rather discuss compile/usage options, etc. This information would also be valid for a free version of the firmware, should one be created.

To meet the GNU FSDG, does this information still need to be removed?

I've made a specification for LibertyBSD. You can see it here: http://libertybsd.net/specification.html

As of now, the public comments period is starting. Email me any questions and you may have about the specification, and I'll put them, along with the answers, on the web page. (Alternatively, you can just ask on this thread.)

I think a free version of OpenBSD would be a good idea. I like some of
the aspects of the project, especially regarding security, although not
the aversion towards copyleft.

You might want to check out the Trisquel issue tracker for examples of
GNU FSDG issues that the project faces:

https://trisquel.info/en/project/issues?text=GFSD&projects=&status=All&priorities=All&categories=All

Some slightly more difficult FSDG issues that Trisquel faces include
rebranding programs such as Firefox and Thunderbird (see the Trademarks
section of the guidelines) and changing documentation to meet the
guidelines. Note that OpenBSD provides Firefox and Thunderbird packages:

http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/OpenBSD/5.6/packages/amd64/

Regarding escrow I think you'll need a more specific set of conditions
for the release of funds (e.g. the scope of the project), where the
money will go if the project fails, project timeline, etc. I think
contacting the FSF for escrow is a good idea.

I hope that helps and best of luck with your project.

Andrew

from specification
"""
• Any changes which I would have copyright over, I release into the public domain.
"""
public domain Not enough
You should release the changes Under gnu licenses

BTW, What about Firefox

if You do not release the changes Under gnu licenses
No one from the free software will love help you
We have gnu/linux
It is unreasonable to help develop something that does not fit gnu philosophy