Gobuntu 7.10..?an effort towards full open source system?will it succeed?

[AlexenderReez]

i just walking around in few media news and found this article....i wonder....will it succeed?for graphic card driver for example,ubuntu need to provide free open source driver like Red Hat family...it sure required a lot of efforts....

:confused::confused::confused:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Installing-Gobuntu-7-10-59788.shtml

[KIAaze]

Isn't that the same as GNewSense (www.gnewsense.org/)?
The installation process of Gobuntu looks a lot like the one of Debian. It's not too hard.

[steven8]

gNewSense has a graphical installer. It's a nice distro.

[KIAaze]

I found this comment very interesting:

Mark Shuttleworth says:

Bob, I think you miss a couple of points. Debian includes several non-free items that Gobuntu does not, such as binary firmware. Gobuntu exists as a no-compromise platform, and should make it easier for people making derivatives like gNewSense to collaborate with the Ubuntu project because there is a common starting point.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/130


gNewSense has a graphical installer. It's a nice distro.
I was referring to the gobuntu link posted by the OP when comparing it to Debian (altough their installer might have changed too since the last time I installed).
Sorry. ;)

[Polygon]

I was talking about this with someone else earlier, both GNewSense and Gobuntu are two different projects, but they are both basically aiming towards the same goal.To provide a ubuntu based distribution that only contails completely free software

i dunno why they didnt just work with the GNewSense devs, i mean they are already there, and not to mention RMS uses em, better to add on to stuff rather then have two of the basically EXACT same distribution competing against each other

[v8YKxgHe]

Polygon, AFAIK - they are working with the gNewSense devs.

[KIAaze]

After hearing that RMS uses GNewSense, I did some research and found this other distro based on Gentoo with the same goal: Ututo (https://www.ututo.org/www/?country=ENGLISH)

edit: seems to be mainly in Spanish, so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ututo

[AlexenderReez]

hm....i realized that mark said something regarding this for first introduction about gutsy gibbon in middle of april...i thought that Gibbon will be change to toward full open source,,,i never thought that they will separate it become two projects ....i thought they will make separate repositories for gutsy which are one contain restricted software and another with full open source....:)

[deanlinkous]

Ubuntu is upstream of gnewsense, if gobuntu is a success then it makes gnewsense easier to maintain and keep up to date not to mention other distros that want a *truly* free base.

[prizrak]

Gobuntu is not meant to replace normal Ubuntu it is meant as a platform for the FSF purists. We will still get the usual Ubuntu that will include some non free stuff such as firmware.

[gnomeuser]

It has to succeed or we're all screwed. It doesn't have to replace Ubuntu now but my dear hope is that it will be able to in a few years. We cannot keep a situation where we keep adding more and more undebuggable parts to our systems, instead we should focus on open development and encourage our friends such as Dell to help us make the dream of a truly supportable system reality.

It will take a while, considering how short a time Linux has been in existance I think we've already exceeded the wildest expectations of most people, the truly free system will take a few years yet at best.

We have drivers coming for most major wifi cards as well as drivers for the two remaining big videocard vendors. The largest gap remaining would be firmware and the bios after that. It seems entirely doable, especially since more and more vendors are starting to cooperate.

[user1397]

What is this "competing" and "will it succeed" rubbish? This is a distro meant for free software purists, or for people who want to start their own distro with a good, clean, free base. There is no competing for "best all-free distro", it's just there, let it be!

Competition is Linspire vs Xandros vs SLED vs Mandriva vs RedHat, and so forth...

[deanlinkous]

Can we not use the word "purists" and all those other terms. At the very least it is crude to group people based on nothing more than a preference they have.

There is a VERY practical issue involved, It isn't really about someone choosing to use a proprietary driver or software, nobody wants to remove that choice or anything. It is more about binary code in the kernel/modules/firmware and not being given a choice, I would hope anyone could understand that.I do not want blobs on my system simply because I do not know what they do or what they contain and I would think that would be one of the benefits of free software since it is suppose to be open but some of it isn't.

[areteichi]

Being a "purist" that I am, could someone tell me whether these daily builds are stable enough for daily computing?

[HermanAB]

As far as I can figure, Gobuntu will simply be standard Debian. Big deal.

[KIAaze]

As far as I can figure, Gobuntu will simply be standard Debian. Big deal.
No, because Debian still has some proprietary device firmware:
http://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_007


Mark Shuttleworth says:

I think the Gobuntu developers are taking an even stronger line on freedom than the DFSG. For example, Debian voted to make an exception to the DFSG for some kernel items, while Gobuntu won’t accept any non-free firmware. Every distribution has slightly different definitions of freedom and I think Gobuntu is the strictest w.r.t. the bits on the disk. I suppose you could go further and require that it only run on chips with Free VHDL, like the SPARC chips that Sun has released under the GPL.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/130

But I think both will have IceWeasel. :)
I hope at least. Gobuntu wouldn't be 100% Free otherwise.

[Starchild]

Can we not use the word "purists" and all those other terms. At the very least it is crude to group people based on nothing more than a preference they have.

There is a VERY practical issue involved, It isn't really about someone choosing to use a proprietary driver or software, nobody wants to remove that choice or anything. It is more about binary code in the kernel/modules/firmware and not being given a choice, I would hope anyone could understand that.I do not want blobs on my system simply because I do not know what they do or what they contain and I would think that would be one of the benefits of free software since it is suppose to be open but some of it isn't.

+1