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In the Real World(TM) the companies use non-free software with support contracts, and are happy with the results. Oracle, AIX, Mainframe, all non-free stuff that is powering many of the biggest companies on the planet. Do you really think all non-free is just asking for trouble?
I don't care about a 100% free OS. I care about a 100% working OS. I want my webcam, my wireless card and my video card to work as designed, that's why I bought them. Make better use of the same hardware was one of the strongs points of Linux, isn't it? Right now I have to use a VM with Windows in order to use Windows Live Messenger with videoconference, or to have Skype recognize my webcam properly. Considering that with 100% free I will have even less drivers, how is a free Linux helping me be free? I am sorry, but I have a sister living on another continent and I use videoconference software in order to keep in touch with her.
My data is safe as long as I can take it out of the system on which it is stored. So even if it is written in an old version of MS Word, as long as I can start a VM and read the file, it is just fine.
As per security, well, while it is true that one can't tell if the binary blobs are secure or not, one surely can't tell that about the free software either. Bugs are discovered every day in both free and non-free software, and they are fixed or worked-around in more or less the same way.
"But the ati drivers may be sending your bank account details to AMD" you can say. Well, as long as I can tell, the Linux code may be doing the same, as I don't have the will or the knowledge to audit it.
Regards
I want to have a 100% working OS too. That's why i would never buy a piece of hardware that it is not Linux compatible. Without non proprietary drivers my old Ati 9700 would not work! Ati no longer supports my old GPU...
Security?The Linux code may be doing the same but the source code is available and thousands of people are checking it for you...Can we do the same with proprietary software?
@qweasd Exactly. I just gave an hypothetical example of a future social contract, not describing current design goals.
PS:Forgive me for my poor english but i am not a native English speaker.
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I also prefer using free software over non-free software. This used to be my number one priority when picking a distribution. But then I found Slackware and still I was a bit uncomfortable with having stuff like xv, the Oracle/SUN JRE or the Kernel blobs on my computer. But then I realised that it doesn`t do me any good when I use free software that is not working at all or as good as its non-free counterpart. Especially the JRE or the Kernel blobs don't really have any alternatives with no problems. And in case of the blobs, when you remove them, something will not work anymore.
Pat should go on with his philosophy. Because if I want to have a completely free Slackware I can always go ahead and do it myself. No other distro makes this as easy as Slackware. So what do I need more? A distro that comes 100% free and puts me into fixed borders? Or maybe a distro which is 9X% free and lets me work with it the way I want?
I want to have a 100% working OS too. That's why i would never buy a piece of hardware that it is not Linux compatible. Without non proprietary drivers my old Ati 9700 would not work! Ati no longer supports my old GPU...
I agree. But if you have a laptop, or not so much money to spend and want to go with the cheap options, sometimes you can't choose all the components. As per ATI support, I have the same problem, my Radeon Xpress 200 is only supported by the free driver.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xspartan
Security?The Linux code may be doing the same but the source code is available and thousands of people are checking it for you...Can we do the same with proprietary software?
No, of course I can't say the same. But in large codebases, bugs are hard to detect. And there is always the chance of maliciousness at some point in the development or distribution of software, maybe not so much with Linux with its big development community, but what about other projects with less visibility?
In the end I believe it is always a matter of trust in the source of your software. But I admit that I am more confident compiling an unknown program from source than installing some unknown freeware in Windows.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xspartan
PS:Forgive me for my poor english but i am not a native English speaker.
Personally, I'm slowly moving away from Linux kernels anyway as they're increasingly buggy to the point of adversely affecting normal usage of my computers. By the time Pat is ready to retire Slackware, I'll likely be long, long gone anyway. Both Minix 3 and GNU's Hurd look better everyday. Now, I just need an audio infrastructure... I might even PURCHASE QNX due to the unreliability of recent Linux kernels... now that's a sure sign of desperation!
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