List of Distros that support drivers out of the box or a program to install them?
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You might as well say ubuntu does also, they have a place to check on installation if you want to install proprietary drivers and flash. I believe Linux Mint also comes "out of the box" and knoppix. As time goes you will probably see more distros. Most of them have them in their repositories now so that it is no big deal to install.
i was at a speech hosted by richard stallman and he mentioned that the reason why he switched from debian linux to i think fedora was because debian had a facility to install proprietary drivers which made it harder for the free software foundation to push manufacturers for the need of open drivers.
i was at a speech hosted by richard stallman and he mentioned that the reason why he switched from debian linux to i think fedora was because debian had a facility to install proprietary drivers which made it harder for the free software foundation to push manufacturers for the need of open drivers.
RMS uses gNewSense. He would never use Debian or Fedora at the moment as they both contain non free software. I think you may have been referring to Linux Torvalds as I've heard that he likes Fedora.
Last edited by linustalman; 07-16-2011 at 02:41 AM.
RMS uses gNewSense. He would never use Debian or Fedora at the moment as they both contain non free software. I think you may have been referring to Linux Torvalds as I've heard that he likes Fedora.
I wont speak for fedora, but debian does NOT contain 'non free software' by defualt, and the FSF even state as much-
Quote:
Debian GNU/Linux
Debian's Social Contract states the goal of making Debian entirely free software, and Debian conscientiously keeps nonfree software out of the official Debian system. However, Debian also provides a repository of nonfree software. According to the project, this software is “not part of the Debian system,” but the repository is hosted on many of the project's main servers, and people can readily learn about these nonfree packages by browsing Debian's online package database. This does too much to steer users towards proprietary software for us to endorse it.
Previous releases of Debian also included nonfree blobs with the kernel Linux. With the release of Debian 6.0 (“squeeze”) in February 2011, these blobs have been moved out of the main distribution to separate packages in the nonfree repository.
You need to add the 'non-free' to be able to get non-free software. I agree with the goals of the FSF, but sometimes they just get a bit silly. See the entry for gentoo to see what I mean-
Quote:
Gentoo GNU/Linux
Gentoo makes it easy to install a number of nonfree programs through their primary package system.
BTW, IIRC gNewSense is pretty much ubuntu with the "restricted" and "multiverse" repos removed. I've always wondered how hard it would be to re-add those repos....I guess if it was 'easy' the FSF would have to remove its approval of gNewSense?
{...}What are the distros that support hardware drivers out of the box{...}
It doesn't depend on distro but download content. Most distros are designed that extra stuff needs be downloaded from internet and some allow to get it directly from downloaded .iso file you made your OS from. Mandriva in this case will be excellent example - it comes in different ways - Free and One and other. If you choose Free you won't get any extra stuff in .iso but if you choose One then you get ATI|NVidia drivers already included and can use them directly without downloading from or needing internet. I picked One because my PC has issues with drivers too much and this way i can be safe i will always have working drivers when needed without useless need to download them. Same stuff applies to other stuff like flash and so on..Debian also nice example - if you choose base install you get pretty much empty OS but if you choose additional stuff when installing then you may get full package already from install source. Of course few distros are designed this way that they include stuff already in .iso As for rest you can't be serious to ask someone else do the exploring journey for you right?
Quote:
{...}or a program to install them{...}
Pretty much anything that allows install something with termianl or gui + internet of course. Because most software work for all distros and not limited to one.
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Originally Posted by cascade9
I wont speak for fedora, but debian does NOT contain 'non free software' by defualt{...}
Same goes for Fedora. Any extra or non-free non-default content you need install manually yourself or with "mods" since they share same mind-set.
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