On Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 10:25:40PM +0000, Jeff Jennings wrote: > Recently, I decided to download Debian 12.4 and was alarmed to notice that > Debian 12 downloads are no longer through https connections.
Do you mean, the initial download of the installer image? Do you mean, the repository that's used during the installation to install the selected tasks? Do you mean, package installations that occur AFTER the installation? If it's the second one, you get to choose your mirror during the installation. I don't know whether https options are available that early. If it's the last one, you can just use an https mirror in your sources.list file. > In addition, I installed 12.4 and discovered that the post installation > repository links are non-free only. I don't understand what you mean by this. Can you please PASTE your sources.list file here so we can see what you see? > Also, two of the largest corporate entities are evident within desktop > notifications, prior to any updates to the operating system. What desktop environment did you select? What (mis)features are you seeing that you object to? Have you considered using a different desktop environment, or NOT using a desktop environment at all? Whatever you liked about your Debian 10 setup, you can probably get close to it (or identical if you're not using a DE) in the newer release, once you know what your goal is. Debian is *extremely* customizable. Install what you want, how you want. If you don't like something, replace it with an alternative.
