Enter gNewSense – the free Ubuntu

“A free Ubuntu? Isn’t Ubuntu free already? No, Ubuntu isn’t free
according to how the Free Software Foundation FSF defines freedom
the guidelines the FSF uses to determine the freedom of an
operating system can be found here – and the same is true of
Debian, the foundation Ubuntu is based on. The goal of these
distributions is to support as much hardware as possible and
thereby to make their installation as easy to use and as
comfortable for the user as possible – market share is the
objective here after all. The principles of free software are
sometimes neglected in the process. A somewhat easygoing attitude
towards freedom can be found in all areas of software production,
from the Linux kernel to the distribution of software by Debian and
Ubuntu. (Note: It is up to the reader to find out if the assertions
made here are similarly applicable to other distributions, for
example SUSE. Below, the author concerns himself exclusively with
Debian and Ubuntu.)

“The Linux Kernel

“Most components of a computer, for example CD drives, hard
disks, network cards etc. – require software to communicate with
the mainboard that is kept in a memory module on the component
itself. This software is called firmware. In most cases the
firmware is installed permanently on the component. For other
components, especially network cards, the firmware is copied to the
component by the driver (that is by the kernel module) when the
module is loaded.

“To provide a more comfortable experience for the user the
firmware of some components (for example the firmware of Broadcom
network cards that are run using the driver “tg3”) is integrated
into the Linux kernel. This sounds reasonable as the respective
components often don’t work without the firmware. But sadly most
firmware does not fit the criteria of free software as the
manufacturers have not published their source code. I will use the
driver “tg3″ as an example. Even though the driver is free and has
a GPL license it uses non-free firmware. Here is an excerpt from
the source code:”

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