What a shitty feeling. Running a Linux distro with non-free blobs is no different than running Android or Windows at this point.
Go through the GNUs list of approved Linux Distros on my old laptop
Jayden Hernandez
Other urls found in this thread:
ftp.AA.debian.org
ftp.BB.debian.org
marc.info
thinkpenguin.com
thinkpenguin.com
twitter.com
Eli Gutierrez
Why? It's worse than running a distro without non-free blobs, but why do you think it drops it all the way down to that level?
If you need proprietary blobs but do care about freedom I recommend Debian. It keeps all proprietary software in separate repositories, while the main repository is FSF-approved, which means that it's easy to restrict the proprietary software you install to the bare minimum you need.
Wyatt Jackson
Well, it certainly is no different than running Android, since Android is just Linux full of proprietary blobs. And I imagine Windows is really no different than Android
Aiden Walker
That's like saying a chair is the same as a dog, because both have four legs.
Android uses the Linux kernel, but that's the only part it shares with a more "typical" Linux system, which also contains a lot of other things, most importantly GNU. Either can have proprietary blobs, and do by default. Above the kernel they're very different.
Windows is very different from both Linux and Android.
Kevin Martinez
ftfy
Tyler Thomas
If you're that way inclined, sure, but I expect anyone with a real need to get rid of systemd already knows about Devuan.
Jonathan Gutierrez
Running Android means officially being Google's bitch. My use of Linux distros and the web comes nowhere close to that.
Jordan Morris
Off-topic... There's only one thing I need from the non-free repo: wireless driver. I load the driver separately off a USB when doing a Debian netinstall, which automatically enables non-free repo so that the driver is kept up-to-date, which makes sense. But is there a way to block all other non-free packages, so that they don't even get listed when for example searching the package cache?
Kevin Bennett
vrms can list non-free packages for you, and when apt downloads the packages you can see which repository it's taking them from. I don't know a way to hide them from searches and such without removing them completely.
Camden Gray
I was hoping for a way to whitelist a single non-free package, a bit like pinning but for repos instead of releases. Or maybe an apt.conf custom filter option that would allow me to filter out the rest of non-free packages from apt/dpkg operations.
Angel Rivera
OP here
Same. And it really fucking sucks because something like the wireless driver would be the easiest to hide malicious software in to be useful.
I just download the firmware zip file and extract it to the "firmware" folder at the root of the installer as per the wiki instructions so it finds it automatically
Does that enable the non-free repost? (Not using the netinstaller btw)
William Roberts
What laptop? Did you try openbsd
Hunter Powell
OP again
so apparently Debian did add non-free repos to my shit. I disabled them before doing anything else. My problem is vrms reports no non-free shit. Which isn't right, since I thought Debian needed non-free firmware for my wifi. Did it swap out for free firmware at install time? If it did then why did it demand non-free firmware at the install prompt? Now I'm paranoid there is shit vrms missed
What difference would it make exactly? Does OpenBSD have free wifi drivers?
Adam Young
OP, x86 is a failure. If your laptop isn't compatible with libreboot and Parabola, you probably also have the Intel ME bug.
Intel ME/AMT and Intel's shit implementations to sandbox it's other security domains is a bigger spook than proprietary blobs.
Blake Rogers
Its an old AMD E-series actually
Eli Miller
other user
You'll have difficulties with the gpu then there is no fully free drivers for AMD/ATI
Xavier Roberts
was meant for
Thomas Moore
I don't give a fuck about GPUs. I just need a wifi driver. That's literally the only component I have that absolutely requires non-free firmware if I want a usable system at all.
Isaac Morales
Don't buy cucked hardware.
Eli Wilson
Look at minifree, afaik there are wifi adapters.
Colton Johnson
for one thing you won't have to deal with that retarded debian problem, there are no non-free wifi drivers for openbsd...
it does come with some non-free firmware that does not run in the kernel and thus poses zero security risk unless your wifi cart sports a gps etc.
Ian Mitchell
I think I found a hack to whitelist just one package from non-free but I can't test it right now. Use a separate mirror for non-free, something like:
deb ftp.AA.debian.org
The "[ trusted=no ]" part will warn you whenever installing from this mirror.
Then put this in /etc/apt/preferences.d/non-free:
Package: firmware-Pin-Priority: 990Package: *Pin: origin "ftp.BB.debian.org"Pin-Priority: -1
The non-free packages will still get listed when using apt-cache though. I can't find any config option to filter them out by default.
Kayden Harris
The firmware wasn't installed from the non-free repo, it was installed from the firmware file you gave it. It doesn't show up in vrms for the same reason any program not installed through dpkg/apt wouldn't show up.
Caleb Price
That ntfs tho...
Gabriel Reyes
If you use non-free wifi firmware you should legally be considered a slave. Honestly, that's what you are, all the data you come into contact with the internet has come in contact with on the internet becomes a product of slavery. That's being generous to you because the way I feel about it is that you are shit covered untouchable living in a sewer of ancient Dubai and your shit covered arm just reached up and touched my leg or a loaf of bread I'm carrying
Sebastian Ross
What about using an external wifi, like those usb wifi antennas - are there any with "free as in freedom" firmware?
Justin Campbell
What the fuck are you talking about? As long as it's just firmware and the wifi card has no way of its own to phone home why do you care so much? It poses no security risk. I bet your mouse and keyboard use non-free firmware too, you have to stop using them right now.
James Lopez
Yes. In fact, Stallman used an external USB antenna when he couldn't find libre firmware for his WiFi adapter.
Andrew Smith
1) WiFi cards are usually used to connect to the interweb
2) It could communicate with something else in ad-hoc mode
3) Non-free firmware + DMA = buttfuck
Anthony Rivera
I understand the goal of Libre-Linux, however, from a privacy standpoint; I wouldn't be worried about the standard Linux with proprietary blobs.
Since Linux only loads the modules it needs, it won't load any of the 'spy' blobs if your hardware doesn't need it to work.
Andrew Rodriguez
fuck vi lmao
Xavier Garcia
Yeah, but if you're using something popular among devs (like a thinkpad) then you can be absolutely sure others before you have monitored what the wifi firmware does with packet sniffers and the like running on separate machines. There would already be big news about spyware wifi firmware in these laptops. There's thousands of blog posts about Intel's ME for example.
I'm all for being paranoid, but being paranoid a priori instead of based on empiric evidence and practical probabilities is simply not feasible. There are more important attack vectors to care about as well, in the sense that it is known they are actually used on a mass level.
Also, protecting yourself on an individual level only goes so far. With mass surveillance and social control it doesn't matter if they can't profile you specifically, you're powerless as a single individual anyway. We need a general political response to this shitty situation rather than individualized solutions that only a very tiny minority will use.
Nolan Stewart
Who cares what Stallman did? He's a retarded commie kike.
Logan Martin
Do all network cards have DMA?
Dominic Jones
thinkpenguin.com
thinkpenguin.com
Because having a lot of people not using non-free software or hardware isn't a solution ?
If only you knew how bad things are.
Correction user
He is autistic
Inane Holla Forums comment has always
Jordan Walker
...
Ryder Parker
I find it extremely bullshit that Debian enables the non-free repos just because it needed one firmware file at install-time. It never did this before so what fucking gives?
Autism is a form of mental retardation. Most users here are very self-evident of this
Brandon Cruz
Autism comes in many form.
Not all of them are a from mental retardation.
Daniel Taylor
Naw they all are. The only people who say otherwise are people with autism themselves and Special Needs teachers helping children cope. If you ever dealt with an autistic person you'd know
Kevin Flores
Of course, a sample size of one proves that all forms of autism is the same.
Jayden Long
Whatever you say, autist
Owen Brown
If you ignore the fact it boots 10 times faster and you get an extra 3 hours out of the battery, sure.
Parker Allen
Why is it bullshit? That wifi firmware comes from a package firmware-. This package is in the non-free repo. Debian assumes that you want to keep all your packages updated and that you do not want to have foreign packages with no origin. Which is a reasonable assumption. Therefore it enables the non-free repo for you.
It's not their fault that you need that firmware package on your system.
I posted here a way to block all other non-free packages from installing, have you tried that?
Matthew James
Android more or less requires a google account, among many other things
your comparison is moot.
Austin Russell
i got an atheros wifi card on ebay to replace my freedom-hating broadcom card. set me back a whopping $6.99.
Jayden Kelly
Is it possible to replace wifi cards in thinkpads with something freedom-respecting? Or are external antennas the only choice we have?
Jaxson Mitchell
WiFi is a meme.
There's no reason to no use a wired connection in your home/work.
No, you don't.
NO!
Elijah Turner
I don't like running ethernet cables all throughout my house fam
Nathan Wilson
Add wifi bridges in each room, then connect the cable to that room's bridge. Simple.
Alexander Wilson
worse cancer than OP
Adam Reed
This is simply not true.
Imagine a building, it's farily secure, it hold some important things, though on the roof is a vent you can get through.
Now compare that to the same building with all its doors wide open, and it's also wheeling the shit out for any one to take.