[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]
“Linux is a free and open source operating system.
However, Linux (and other open source operating system) can use and
load device drivers without publicly available source code. These
are vendor-compiled binary drivers without any source code and
known as Binary Blobs. Die hard open source fans and Free Software
Foundation (FSF) recommends completely removing all proprietary
components including blobs. In this post I will list five best
Linux distribution that meets the FSF’s strict guidelines and
contains no proprietary components such as firmware and drivers.
Top 5 Reasons to Avoid Binary Blobs1. Modification & distribution – Binary blobs can not be
improved or fixed by open source developers. You can not distribute
modified versions.
2. Reliability – Binary blobs can be unsupported by vendors at any
time by abandoning driver maintenance.
3. Auditing – Binary blobs cannot be audited for security and bugs.
You are forced to trust vendors not to put backdoors and spyware
into the blob.
4. Bugs – Binary blobs hide many bugs. Also, it can motivate people
to buy new hardware.
5. Portability – Binary blobs can not be ported on different
hardware architectures. It typically runs on a few hardware
architectures.”