100% Libre, Trisquel 4.5 STS 'Slaine' Released 207
Aldenissin writes "Trisquel 4.5 Slaine comes with a new boot manager for the live images, an improved installer which showcases the project highlights, and new programs like the Remmina remote desktop client, the social network client Gwibber or the backup tool Deja-dup. The web browser received several changes to improve attributes like speed by enabling http pipelining and other methods, privacy with blocking third party cookies and moving to Duck Duck Go search engine — both as default, and usability with the preinstalled FlashVideoReplacer plugin that allows watching videos from YouTube, Vimeo and many others. The main packages include: Linux-libre 2.6.35, Xorg 7.5, GNOME 2.32, Mozilla based web browser 3.6.15 and OpenOffice.org 3.2. Slaine is based on Ubuntu 10.10, and as always with Trisquel, it contains just free software. Available are 32 and 64 bit flavors, and being an STS release it will be supported for a year. This release will be the "live" operating system included in the Free Software Foundation member cards from now on, in replacement of Trisquel 4.0."
It's a linux distro. (Score:5, Informative)
Since we apparently couldn't be bothered with adding one more sentence to the blurb so we know what the hell 'Trisquel' actually is, it's apparently a linux distribution and Slaine seems to be the code name of the new release version (ie, Hammy, Sid, Hoary Hedgehog).
https://trisquel.info/en [trisquel.info]
Re:Gonna be totally honest here... (Score:5, Informative)
The only word in the summary that I recognise is "Release", but I can guess what "Libre" means. I don't know why you can't just use "free."?
In the open source community (and most of the larger computer nerd metacommunity) the term free software [gnu.org] has a very specific meaning. Unfortunately, the english word free has two different meanings: free as in freedom, and free as in beer, as it's usually put. To anyone not in the know, free software is just software that can be obtained at no cost.
Using the words libre and gratis [wikipedia.org] clarifies what you're talking about, and though it may not be a particularly useful distinction on slashdot, it's often used elsewhere. Most people can guess what they mean even if they've never heard them used in this context, because gratis is often used to say "this costs nothing", while libre sounds a lot like liberty.
Re:Um... (Score:4, Informative)
OK, how is this for anecdotal evidence. I have tried or looked at all of the 100$ libre versions, and if they seem to offered an English version, then I tried them. Only 2 stand out, Trisquel and gNewSense. gNewSense has not been updated in awhile, and is based on an older version of Ubuntu than Trisquel. Trisquel seems from experience to have a lot more thought put into it other than just removing proprietary blobs from the kernel and software and repos. The layout is well done, and is not just a new wallpaper and color scheme. In fact, I don't hardly notice it since it just seems to work so well. Unlike with even Ubuntu 10.10, which I have honestly had issues with about once a week. Not so with Trisquel 4.5, and that was while it was in Beta. The only real issue I remember having was with Youtube videos, and that was quickly corrected.
As far as wifi adapters, there are those that it will work with and are likely easily replaceable. This is not a libre issue only, as Linux has been dealing with this for years... As far as the GPU acceleration, I wanted to keep the summary size down. But as mentioned on the release page: "One of the exciting improvements for this release is the availability of an experimental Nouveau driver for NVIDIA cards which allows for 3D acceleration using fully free software."
Re:It's a linux distro. (Score:2, Informative)
One of 8 approved [gnu.org] GNU/Linux distributions. None of which matter in the real world.
Outside of servers and as a basis for other systems (like TiVo and Android) and appliances, one could similarly claim that no Linux distro matters 'in the real world'. Although I don't share the FSF's moral stance on software, I do think it's good for them to put out lists like this and endorse software that meets their ideals.
Apparently, in order to be an approved FREE software OS, you need to prevent users from using non-free software [gnu.org]. FREE from choice. The ultimate FREEdom.
That's not true. They require the distros to not include non-free software (including not having official 'non-free' repositories), but the user can be allowed to install non-free software. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if a distro had the ability to prevent users from installing non-free software, it would logically have to be a non-free system and thus not allowed in the FSF's list.
The FSF has always supported peoples' right to choose non-free software. They have simply been consistent in doing everything they can to discourage it, but never disallowing it.
Re:why though (Score:3, Informative)
Here are some examples of developers of the software controlling the users of the software using proprietary software:
1. Free software, unlike proprietary software, can be ported to other operating systems (and to different architectures). Proprietary software will usually only be ported if the developer wishes to do so (e.g. if enough people use the operating system), which is why for example Adobe did not release a version of Flash for FreeBSD or for the Openmoko GNU/Linux distributions.
2. Nvidia is unwilling to add VDPAU support to the GNU/Linux drivers of their old graphic cards even though the Windows drivers support the equivalent technology. So if you want VDPAU on GNU/Linux you need to buy a new graphics card, even though your card should be able to use VDPAU if Nvidia decides to support it.
3. The VIA Unichrome Pro graphics card does not support a 16:9 resolution when using the proprietary graphics card driver on Windows XP, so if you want to connect a Windows XP computer with this graphics card to a 16:9 monitor without seeing a distorted image, you need to buy a new graphics card. The reason for this is that VIA stopped supporting the driver in 2007. The free driver on GNU/Linux called openChrome on the other hand supports 16:9 resolutions such as 720p. If someone didn't know about GNU/Linux, they would probably just buy a new graphics card, even though their card might actually support a 16:9 resolution if the graphics card driver developers decide to support it.