On Mon, Mar 10, 2025 at 11:56:28AM +0100, Simon Josefsson wrote:
I still haven't heard arguments why people refuse to use an installer that comes with non-free firmware, asks whether this firmware should be used, and if answered "no", none of this non-free firmware ends up in the installed system. The resulting system is free regardless whether there was non-free firmware on the installation images.https://www.gnu.org/distros/optionally-free-not-enough.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/install-fest-devil.html
I've missed the second link initially, so I'll quote it for people who missed it too or decided not to click:
"""My new idea is that the install fest could allow the devil to hang around, off in a corner of the hall, or the next room. (Actually, a human being wearing sign saying “The Devil,” and maybe a toy mask or horns.) The devil would offer to install nonfree drivers in the user's machine to make more parts of the computer function, explaining to the user that the cost of this is using a nonfree (unjust) program.
The install fest would tolerate the devil's presence but not officially sponsor the devil, or publicize the devil's availability. Therefore, the users who accept the devil's deal would clearly see that the devil installed the nonfree drivers, not the install fest. The install fest would not be morally compromised by the devil's actions, so it could retain full moral authority when it talks about the imperative for freedom.
Those users that get nonfree drivers would see what their moral cost is, and that there are people in the community who refuse to pay that cost. They would have the chance to reflect afterwards on the situation that their flawed computers have put them in, and about how to change that situation, in the small and in the large.
""" -- WBR, wRAR
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