On Sat 04 May 2019 at 22:19:43 +0200, Jonas Smedegaard wrote: > Quoting Brian (2019-05-04 22:01:07) > > On Sat 04 May 2019 at 21:32:19 +0200, Jonas Smedegaard wrote: > > > > > Hi Terrill, > > > > > > Quoting Terrill Wallace (2019-05-04 20:44:24) > > > > I am trying to install Debian 9 on my desktop but within the install I > > > > am not given a Wifi Option. Can you please help me with this issue? > > > > > > Most likely the wifi device built into your computer requires non-free > > > firmware, which is not included with Debian. > > > > Quite possibly. > > > > > Best option (from a Free Software standpoint) is to buy a wifi dongle > > > which works with Free Software. See e.g. https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi > > > > Indeed. > > > > > Alternatively (if you don't mind the legal implications that comes with > > > including non-free formware to your installation) look for the > > > unofficial debian-installer image which includes non-free firmware. > > > > Are there legal implications with a user installing non-free software > > as long as they follow the conditions? > > I am not a lawyer - please have your own lawyer consult you regarding > the licensing terms involved - i.e. possibly some of these: > https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs/non-free/f/firmware-nonfree/ A nice side-step of *a user* installing non-free software. Nobody needs a lawyer to read and understand the conditions under which he got it. And, of course, there is a considerable difference between what an individual does and how an organisation behaves. > > Debian, of course, decided it cannot distribute such software. That is > > why we have the pragmatic nonsense of having official and unofficial > > installers. > > It seems you are mistaken: Debian can and evidently do distribute such > software - just not as part of a Free Software distribution.¹ > > Feel free to label it nonsense if that makes you happy. Cheers!
From https://www.debian.org/social_contract Debian will remain 100% free We will never make the system require the use of a non-free component. But you maintain "we do distribute such software". So the unofficial debian-installer is distributed as a less than 100% free part of Debian? Just like the non-free archive, I suppose? Confused. -- Brian.
