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It's amazing how defensive people get and the denial when you point out that Linux contains proprietary software.
@Suiseiseki I didn't know that Linux contained proprietary software. Can you tell me more?
@jrballesteros05@social.linux.pizza@RobertoArchimboldi @Suiseiseki Linux, the kernel, seems to have some binary blobs which does not have the source code available.
There are other firmwares that are proprietary too, like most of the WiFi cards, but I have to admit that they are loaded externally if I'm not wrong (I am not an expert in the topic).
There is linux-libre which removes all of that proprietary crap but it has less compatibility, especially with new hardware.
@jrballesteros05 @RobertoArchimboldi >seems to have some binary blobs which does not have the source code available.
It's a fact that it does, array encoded as per my previous comment.
Most of them have been moved to "linux-firmware", but not all.
>like most of the WiFi cards, but I have to admit that they are loaded externally if I'm not wrong
Linux itself contains the software loader machinery, although that loader copies the files from; "/lib/firmware/" (unless the software in embedded via a file list in "CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE").
More or less, RAM very cheap, while EEPROM is half a cent more, so many Wi-Fi cards come in a nonfunctional form that only starts to work when software is loaded onto that RAM.
That's very sloppy, as you plug the card in and it doesn't work, but it would be no issue to load a free software program onto that card - but instead the manufacturer provides a proprietary program under a nasty proprietary license and tells you that it's just "firmware" and certainly not software and that you should run it without thinking.
What a manufacturer should do is release that software as free software (and people will improve it for them and fix bugs), or at bare minimum provide hardware documentation that is enough to write a free replacement, but almost all refuse to do either (except for Atheros for their USB 802.11n cards, where they released the USB to PCIe bridge software as free software, allowing those cards to be used in freedom).
>it has less compatibility, especially with new hardware.
GNU/Linux-libre won't have much issues working even on newer hardware.
If you have an 8th gen intel machine with integrated graphics and a 1000BASE-T NIC, Trisquel GNU/Linux-libre will work just fine.
The main issues are with Wi-Fi cards and GPUs, although rarely some computers run proprietary software on the sound card(!) and have a digital signature to stop you from fixing it and therefore the sound card doesn't work (mainly only intel chromebooks at the moment).
Ironically there is a free software driver, free peripherals software and free VBIOS init for all nvidia GPUs up to the 700 series, but reclocking is still in progress and nvidia started putting digital handcuffs on cards starting from the 900 series, where the fans will refuse to spin unless you load a proprietary program that passes a signature check, meaning you cannot advance the GPU past idle clocks without risking frying it.
By in large, intel integrated, nvidia and ASpeed chips work just fine for web browsing and free software gaming - but there are issues with AMD and ATI cards and intel dedicated (there are some hacks to give you at least a native resolution image, but stuff like accelerated 3D and ACPI S3 suspend is broken and I'm not sure of the state of intel dedicated (all I know is those cards are handcuffed)).
It's a fact that it does, array encoded as per my previous comment.
Most of them have been moved to "linux-firmware", but not all.
>like most of the WiFi cards, but I have to admit that they are loaded externally if I'm not wrong
Linux itself contains the software loader machinery, although that loader copies the files from; "/lib/firmware/" (unless the software in embedded via a file list in "CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE").
More or less, RAM very cheap, while EEPROM is half a cent more, so many Wi-Fi cards come in a nonfunctional form that only starts to work when software is loaded onto that RAM.
That's very sloppy, as you plug the card in and it doesn't work, but it would be no issue to load a free software program onto that card - but instead the manufacturer provides a proprietary program under a nasty proprietary license and tells you that it's just "firmware" and certainly not software and that you should run it without thinking.
What a manufacturer should do is release that software as free software (and people will improve it for them and fix bugs), or at bare minimum provide hardware documentation that is enough to write a free replacement, but almost all refuse to do either (except for Atheros for their USB 802.11n cards, where they released the USB to PCIe bridge software as free software, allowing those cards to be used in freedom).
>it has less compatibility, especially with new hardware.
GNU/Linux-libre won't have much issues working even on newer hardware.
If you have an 8th gen intel machine with integrated graphics and a 1000BASE-T NIC, Trisquel GNU/Linux-libre will work just fine.
The main issues are with Wi-Fi cards and GPUs, although rarely some computers run proprietary software on the sound card(!) and have a digital signature to stop you from fixing it and therefore the sound card doesn't work (mainly only intel chromebooks at the moment).
Ironically there is a free software driver, free peripherals software and free VBIOS init for all nvidia GPUs up to the 700 series, but reclocking is still in progress and nvidia started putting digital handcuffs on cards starting from the 900 series, where the fans will refuse to spin unless you load a proprietary program that passes a signature check, meaning you cannot advance the GPU past idle clocks without risking frying it.
By in large, intel integrated, nvidia and ASpeed chips work just fine for web browsing and free software gaming - but there are issues with AMD and ATI cards and intel dedicated (there are some hacks to give you at least a native resolution image, but stuff like accelerated 3D and ACPI S3 suspend is broken and I'm not sure of the state of intel dedicated (all I know is those cards are handcuffed)).
@Suiseiseki @jrballesteros05 I learnt something. Thank you