Richard Stallman wrote:
OpenBSD is by far the most free OS in the landscape. Everything that ships with it is free or else it won't be distributed with it.Yes, that's what I was told. I was also told that OpenBSD's ports system includes non-free programs. Is that accurate too? There is not a single open source OS out there that is more careful than OpenBSD on licensing, copyrights and frivolous patents. Maybe that is true, but it's not the issue I'm talking about. I'm not a supporter of open source anyway; I fight for free software. Ututo and gNewSense have the policy not to include non-free programs, not even in a ports system. Thus, they don't do anything that contradicts the philosophy of free software. That's why I can recommend them. Unlinke linux OpenBSD does not contain proprietary firmware blobs in the distribution. Torvalds' version of Linux is not free software, for this reason. Ututo and gNewSense include a version of Linux which remove the firmware blobs, in order to make it free software.
Where's the freedom in not being able to use (under your definition of non-free software) non-free or otherwise "restricted" software?
Freedom is about being free to make your own choice, no matter what the content of that choice is. Even if that choice inhibits freedom.
Glenn
