Are there blobs in antiX and what can be done about it?

Ulysses_ · 11-19-2019, 09:36 AM

Are there blobs in antiX and if yes, what can be done about it?

jamison20000e · 11-19-2019, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulysses_

Are there blobs in antiX and if yes, what can be done about it?

Most due to hardware, I'd think? There's open source hardware but not much... also open drivers for reverse engineered hardware.

Have fun!

hazel · 11-19-2019, 10:16 AM

I think AntiX Core has a completely libre kernel.

anticapitalista · 11-19-2019, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hazel

I think AntiX Core has a completely libre kernel.

had - not any more.

anticapitalista · 11-19-2019, 10:53 AM

To O/P

antiX is not libre, but you can make it so (if your hardware allows).

1. antiX-19-full comes with the following that according to vrms are non-free.
Just use apt to remove them.

Code:

              Non-free packages installed on antix1

amd64-microcode                     Processor microcode firmware for AMD CPUs
atmel-firmware                      Firmware for Atmel at76c50x wireless networking chips.
bluez-firmware                      Firmware for Bluetooth devices
broadcom-sta-dkms                   dkms source for the Broadcom STA Wireless driver
firmware-amd-graphics               Binary firmware for AMD/ATI graphics chips
firmware-atheros                    Binary firmware for Atheros wireless cards
firmware-bnx2                       Binary firmware for Broadcom NetXtremeII
firmware-bnx2x                      Binary firmware for Broadcom NetXtreme II 10Gb
firmware-brcm80211                  Binary firmware for Broadcom/Cypress 802.11 wireless c
firmware-intelwimax                 Binary firmware for Intel WiMAX Connection
firmware-ipw2x00                    Binary firmware for Intel Pro Wireless 2100, 2200 and
firmware-iwlwifi                    Binary firmware for Intel Wireless cards
firmware-libertas                   Binary firmware for Marvell wireless cards
firmware-linux-nonfree              Binary firmware for various drivers in the Linux kerne
firmware-misc-nonfree               Binary firmware for various drivers in the Linux kerne
firmware-myricom                    Binary firmware for Myri-10G Ethernet adapters
firmware-netxen                     Binary firmware for QLogic Intelligent Ethernet (3000
firmware-qlogic                     Binary firmware for QLogic HBAs
firmware-realtek                    Binary firmware for Realtek wired/wifi/BT adapters
firmware-zd1211                     binary firmware for the zd1211rw wireless driver
fonts-ubuntu                        sans-serif font set from Ubuntu
gsfonts-other                       Additional fonts for the ghostscript interpreter
  Reason: Partly no modifications allowed, partly shareware
intel-microcode                     Processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs
midisport-firmware                  Firmware loader for M-Audio's MidiSport devices

               Contrib packages installed on antix1

b43-fwcutter                        utility for extracting Broadcom 43xx firmware
firmware-b43-installer              firmware installer for the b43 driver
firmware-b43legacy-installer        firmware installer for the b43legacy driver
iucode-tool                         Intel processor microcode tool
virtualbox-guest-dkms               x86 virtualization solution - guest addition module so
virtualbox-guest-utils              x86 virtualization solution - non-X11 guest utilities
virtualbox-guest-x11                x86 virtualization solution - X11 guest utilities

  24 non-free packages, 1.5% of 1626 installed packages.
  7 contrib packages, 0.4% of 1626 installed packages.

2. Change the debian and antiX sources.list to remove contrib and non(-)free

3. Install a libre kernel: https://jxself.org/linux-libre/

jamison20000e · 11-19-2019, 05:38 PM

Again,,, assuming your hardware is, that's where I fail as well.

I love this: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena

or maybe we could 3-D print our own? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware

Add: Don't forget about your Bois, for that you'd have to get tricky with eg Libreboot &c!

Ulysses_ · 11-20-2019, 02:06 AM

Thanks. Maybe the installer should offer a libre install if you do not have any hardware that requires blobs. Or if you can live without some hardware. What is that CPU microcode? What would you be missing without it?

ondoho · 11-20-2019, 02:21 AM

Ulysses_, maybe you'd like to fork AntiX?

anticapitalista · 11-20-2019, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulysses_

Thanks. Maybe the installer should offer a libre install if you do not have any hardware that requires blobs. Or if you can live without some hardware. What is that CPU microcode? What would you be missing without it?

From Debian:

Quote:

Processor microcode firmware for AMD CPUs

This package contains microcode patches for all AMD AMD64 processors. AMD releases microcode patches to correct processor behavior as documented in the respective processor revision guides.

For Intel processors, please refer to the intel-microcode package.

On antiX, you can run liveusb with persistence, make the 3 changes I mentioned above, remaster, use live kernel updater to set libre kernel as default and bingo - you have a libre-antiX on your usb device ready to install.

jamison20000e · 11-20-2019, 09:12 AM

Off-topic, could checkout: https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html

Ulysses_ · 11-20-2019, 02:42 PM

What about virtualization? All hypervisors require you to build the kernel don't they. Let's go for virtualbox plus open-source usb support (there are instructions for integrating the usb support from kqemu). Would building the kernel be way too hard and a hack if you start with the libre kernel?

freemedia2018 · 11-20-2019, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anticapitalista

On antiX, you can run liveusb with persistence, make the 3 changes I mentioned above, remaster, use live kernel updater to set libre kernel as default and bingo - you have a libre-antiX on your usb device ready to install.

I've done automated remastering of antiX before.

If anybody in this thread is interested in a script to make a completely libre version of antiX, that's what the goal of "distro-libre" is (but for more than one distro.) Script takes existing iso, makes changes, creates new iso. But I haven't worked on antiX in a long time. If this is something people are interested in doing I'll go rejoin their forum, but let me know.

Ulysses_ · 11-21-2019, 12:21 AM

Does your script parse the text in #5?

Ulysses_ · 11-21-2019, 12:39 AM

Let's say you make an exception and you include one non-free driver. But you do it in a virtual machine. Can it change the CPU microcode and affect all virtual machines and the host?

freemedia2018 · 11-21-2019, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulysses_

Does your script parse the text in #5?

The text is a list of packages, which I could use the script to remove.

You run the script, it downloads the iso (unless it is already downloaded) and it makes the changes and gives you a modified iso as output. You can do whatever you want with that iso, host it on the Internet Archive for example.

It's actually really trivial, but it still requires maintenance.

Is this a project you would like to be part of? I'm not asking for much, mostly this is the sort of thing I'm only likely to work on (at this time) if there is interest in it. If it interests you, I'll go join the antiX forums.