Hi Steve, Thank you for raising this issue and writing about it so clearly.
On Tue, Apr 19, 2022 at 01:27:46AM +0100, Steve McIntyre wrote:
5. We could split out the non-free firmware packages into a new non-free-firmware component in the archive, and allow a specific exception only to allow inclusion of those packages on our official media. We would then generate only one set of official media, including those non-free firmware packages.
My preference is a variation on Option 5: Effectively, a two-phase version of it. I think we should produce installer media including the non-free firmware and for that to be the media that people are directed to, in the most part, via the normal routes (default path on website, etc.¹) However I think we should continue to produce install media without non-free components, at least for a period of time after making the switch (as another reply said, perhaps 1-2 releases and review). It feels like me too big a step to take to stop producing DFSG-compliant media. From simply a principle perspective, that's the "pure" aim of the project. If we continue to provide it but not on the default path then we might be able to gather some information on how popular or useful it is (how many downloads it attracts; or what kind of hardware configurations it can actually be used on; perhaps cross- referencing it with popcon or installation-report data) I'd also like to see us put a bit more effort into tools like vrms² so we can make it easier for folks to gauge how much non-free stuff they are relying upon and maybe even work towards offering tailored alternatives. (For example I've currently got an Nvidia GPU and the binary blob drivers installed, for the first time in over a decade, and I could do with some hand-holding to identify an alternative which would not require non-free drivers and/or firmware.) ¹ I agree with another person in this thread that the current behaviour of auto-downloading an ISO after visiting /download is wrong and should be changed, but, that is orthogonal to what you have raised and should be addressed separately. ² perhaps starting with renaming it… -- Please do not CC me for listmail. 👱🏻 Jonathan Dowland ✎ j...@debian.org 🔗 https://jmtd.net
