• A take against "Firmware - what are we going to do about it?"

    From =?UTF-8?Q?Francisco_Jos=C3=A9_Fern=@21:1/5 to All on Tue Apr 19 18:40:01 2022
    Hi there!

    I'm Naranjo, a proud Debian user :) i'm also a avid Redditor :)

    Today, I've been watching a trending topic in a few sub-reddits
    pointing to this article:

    https://blog.einval.com/2022/04/19#firmware-what-do-we-do

    I wrote my take in the Debian sub-reddit and I will like to post it
    here too. This is just a personal take but I think it summarizes a
    common feeling about other Debian users I now. I'm open to criticism
    about it and maybe I can provide extra context if someone ask for it.
    I didn't intended it to sound harsh, but I can see how it sounds a
    little bit like it.

    The following is my take in Reddit with emotional emphasis removed:


    Mixing free and non-free software goes against the fundamental nature
    of Debian. As stated in their ideological-oriented objectives and
    philosophy:

    https://www.debian.org/intro/why_debian

    https://www.debian.org/intro/philosophy

    If they change this criteria it will erode a lot of trust I and (I
    guess) many people have in he project leadership.

    Having the non-free installer more prominent in the download page
    (with a visible warning about it) is ok. But allowing non-free
    software to be distributed with free software in the main default
    installer is going to harm the project.

    I use the non-free image myself a lot, but having the free image as
    the main focus makes myself trust them for many personal and
    professional hosts. If they change this, it will look hypocritical,
    like the way a politician twist the narrative to pursue a personal
    interest disregarding the common good.

    It also validates the strict POV of the FSF and RMS, making their
    apparent excessive zealot a justified cautionary tale.

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