Parabola GNU/Linux-libre - 2017-01-13
Recently I have made a switch to Parabola GNU/Linux-Libre, one the free GNU/Linux distributions (the others use the standard Linux kernel which has non-free blobs for drivers, as well as distributing non-free firmware). I made the switch after receiving a WiFi adapter that respects freedom, since the only component of my laptop that required non-free drivers and firmware was my wireless card. The reason I chose Parabola of all the free distros is because Parabola has the most up-to-date packages (unlike, for example, Trisquel which is based on the Ubuntu LTS, or gNewSense which is based on Debian Stable).
The reason for switching to Parabola from Debian is because Debian, although it can be de-blobbed, I have not liked how they do their software segregation. One would think that `non-free' would be for non-free software or free software that depends on non-free software (unless they put the free part in `contrib', as they do with the AssaultCube package), yet when I was looking for the firmware for my wireless card I was surprised to find that it was in `non-free' along with all the others. I quickly began looking up the firmware to see if I could find source code and what license it was under. But no, the firmware is 100% Free Software, Debian just put them in a non-free package with other non-free software that are completely unnecessary forcing anyone who wants to use the free firmware to also download the non-free firmware along with it.
Another reason is because by using a free distro it is easier to promote Free Software, especially since there's nothing I could install from the repos that would be non-free. I also now have a very nice package called `your-freedom', which, if I were to install a non-free package, it will "conflict with `your-freedom'" and ask "Are you sure you would like to remove `your-freedom'?". Something that I find rather hilarious and funny, yet very useful so you don't have to worry about if a package is Free Software or not (because `your-freedom' will take care of that for you).
I still have not overwritten my Windows drive because I currently still need it for video conferencing (you know, to talk to family and friends), however I believe I found found a solution to this, and I will post about it later when I confirm it as a proper solution. Once I have confirmed it as a solution and have gotten my family and friends to switch to it I will be overwriting my Windows drive most likely with Trisquel.
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