“And take a look at gNewSense, the Linux distro that touts its
absolute Free software purity. GNewSense, which is based on Ubuntu,
removes every last line of proprietary code — it includes not a
scintilla of help with pesky closed source drivers. (Unlike Ubuntu,
which acknowledges that the world is full of closed source
drivers.) The Distrowatch ranking parks gNewSense all the way down
at No. 51.“But wait. Isn’t the low ranking of the hyper-pure gNewSense
counterintuitive? After all, there’s a deep strain of ideological
purity in the Linux community. The night I interviewed Richard
Stallman — the very heart and soul of GNU/Linux — he described
being on a speaking engagement in Spain. His host offered him a CD
of local music. But Stallman wouldn’t accept it — because the
tunes were copy-protected. Wow, that’s purity. Thank goodness
someone is standing up for the spirit of GNU/Linux freedom. If we
start listening to Flamenco guitar on copy-restricted discs, what’s
next? The downfall of Western Civilization?”
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