Until 2022, Debian GNU/Linux did not offer nonfree packages for installation unless the user explicitly enabled use of that repository. Thus, it was easy to make a free installation if you wanted to.
That is no longer true, because Debian has changed its policy. In Debian 12, initially, the installer offered to install nonfree firmware whenever some hardware devices “needed” that.
Since then, there has been another change for the worse. Debian now recommends preferentially a new installer program which, on most computers, installs all the nonfree firmware without even asking.
It is no longer easy to install only the free packages of Debian. There are ways to request this, but they require specific knowledge. See Optionally Free Is Not Enough. In effect, Debian has become more like the other nonfree distros.
So might as well run other betterr non-free distros.
cryptowolf
npub16j…2gqp0
2025-02-13 23:07:31
in reply to nevent1q…2dry
Author Public Key
npub16jknkmh2luflurx2epkj99qyj7v2ut3ew7t2mfd7xxt9jtjku2nsj2gqp0Published at
2025-02-13 23:07:31Event JSON
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"content": "Until 2022, Debian GNU/Linux did not offer nonfree packages for installation unless the user explicitly enabled use of that repository. Thus, it was easy to make a free installation if you wanted to.\n\nThat is no longer true, because Debian has changed its policy. In Debian 12, initially, the installer offered to install nonfree firmware whenever some hardware devices “needed” that.\n\nSince then, there has been another change for the worse. Debian now recommends preferentially a new installer program which, on most computers, installs all the nonfree firmware without even asking.\n\nIt is no longer easy to install only the free packages of Debian. There are ways to request this, but they require specific knowledge. See Optionally Free Is Not Enough. In effect, Debian has become more like the other nonfree distros.\n\n\nSo might as well run other betterr non-free distros.\n\n\n\n",
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