Help me become "Free"

[NNNNNNNNNN1515]

Today I was very curious to know how much of my ubuntu set up is free and open, so I installed VRMS. And among some of the non-free packages I have installed included the linux restricted modules for x86/x86_64. Since I'm a beginner when it comes to linux, I was wondering if anyone could answer this question: Just because they are installed, does that mean my computer is using them? How can I tell whether my computer would run ok with out these modules? And if I find it possible to do without them, how do I uninstall them? I suppose if some of my hardware wont work without them, then I'll keep them on there. It's only one little non-free smudge on my other wise pure, clean open source dream. However if it were at all possible to unchain myself from the restricted modules, I could have something to brag about to my fellow nerds.

Also... just out of curiosity... has anyone met RMS? Does he sign autographs?

[LaRoza]

Today I was very curious to know how much of my ubuntu set up is free and open, so I installed VRMS. And among some of the non-free packages I have installed included the linux restricted modules for x86/x86_64. Since I'm a beginner when it comes to linux, I was wondering if anyone could answer this question: Just because they are installed, does that mean my computer is using them? How can I tell whether my computer would run ok with out these modules? And if I find it possible to do without them, how do I uninstall them? I suppose if some of my hardware wont work without them, then I'll keep them on there. It's only one little non-free smudge on my other wise pure, clean open source dream. However if it were at all possible to unchain myself from the restricted modules, I could have something to brag about to my fellow nerds.
Post your hardware to see if things will work without them.

If you want a totally free distro, try gNewSense. It is what RMS uses and is based on Ubuntu.




Also... just out of curiosity... has anyone met RMS? Does he sign autographs?
I'd want to, just so I could tell him I use Vim.

[TheConstruct]

Also... just out of curiosity... has anyone met RMS? Does he sign autographs?
He does, although he's been known to charge for them in the past. :)

http://digg.com/tech_news/Richard_Stallman_Charges_for_Autographs
http://www.linux.com/articles/54012

[NNNNNNNNNN1515]

This is the hardware I'm using. Can I do without the restricted modules?

BTW Thanks for the tip about gNewSense. I have a spare computer in the back. I might try to install gNewSense for fun. :-)


normloman-desktop
description: Computer
product: Springdale-G
width: 32 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3 smp-1.4 smp
configuration: boot=normal cpus=1 uuid=A0550751-F5DE-11D8-84F6-00E018874439
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: D865PERL
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
version: AAC27646-213
serial: BTRL43501306
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 0
version: RL86510A.86A.0075.P15.0404021333 (04/02/2004)
size: 64KiB
capacity: 448KiB
capabilities: pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb agp ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification netboot
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: 15.3.3
serial: 0000-0F33-0000-0000-0000-0000
slot: J2E1
size: 2800MHz
capacity: 3060MHz
width: 32 bits
clock: 200MHz
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe constant_tsc pebs bts sync_rdtsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid
configuration: id=0
*-cache:0 DISABLED
description: L1 cache
physical id: 5
slot: None
capabilities: pipeline-burst internal varies data
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 6
slot: None
size: 1MiB
capacity: 1MiB
capabilities: pipeline-burst internal varies unified
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.1
width: 32 bits
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.2
width: 32 bits
capabilities: logical
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 3d
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 768MiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 266 MHz (3.8 ns) [empty]
product: PartNum1
vendor: Manufacturer1
physical id: 0
serial: SerNum1
slot: J5G1
width: 64 bits
clock: 266MHz (3.8ns)
*-bank:1
description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 266 MHz (3.8 ns) [empty]
product: PartNum2
vendor: Manufacturer2
physical id: 1
serial: SerNum2
slot: J5G2
width: 64 bits
clock: 266MHz (3.8ns)
*-bank:2
description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 266 MHz (3.8 ns)
product: PartNum3
vendor: Manufacturer3
physical id: 2
serial: SerNum3
slot: J5H1
size: 256MiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 266MHz (3.8ns)
*-bank:3
description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 266 MHz (3.8 ns)
product: PartNum4
vendor: Manufacturer4
physical id: 3
serial: SerNum4
slot: J5H2
size: 512MiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 266MHz (3.8ns)
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=agpgart-intel module=intel_agp
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Radeon RV100 QY [Radeon 7000/VE]
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: agp agp-2.0 pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=32 mingnt=8
*-usb:0
description: USB Controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
*-usb:1
description: USB Controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
*-usb:2
description: USB Controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
*-usb:3
description: USB Controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.3
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: uhci bus_master
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
*-usb:4
description: USB Controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.7
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0 module=ehci_hcd
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801 PCI Bridge
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1e
bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
version: c2
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci normal_decode bus_master
*-firewire
description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
product: FW323
vendor: Agere Systems
physical id: 7
bus info: pci@0000:02:07.0
version: 61
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ohci1394 latency=32 maxlatency=24 mingnt=12 module=ohci1394
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 82562EZ 10/100 Ethernet Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 8
bus info: pci@0000:02:08.0
logical name: eth0
version: 01
serial: 00:11:11:57:e8:03
size: 100MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e100 driverversion=3.5.23-k4-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=192.168.1.100 latency=32 link=yes maxlatency=56 mingnt=8 module=e100 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100MB/s
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master
configuration: latency=0
*-ide:0
description: IDE interface
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
logical name: scsi0
logical name: scsi1
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: ide bus_master emulated
configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0 module=ata_piix
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: Maxtor 6L080P0
vendor: Maxtor
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: BAJ4
serial: L2637JWG
size: 76GiB (81GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=c1d9c1d9
*-volume:0
description: EXT3 volume
vendor: Linux
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
logical name: /
logical name: /dev/.static/dev
version: 1.0
serial: a5716e71-cff2-4a12-be80-0ae76a3d2e49
size: 74GiB
capacity: 74GiB
capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files recover ext3 ext2 initialized
configuration: created=2008-05-24 21:42:50 filesystem=ext3 modified=2008-08-11 12:27:03 mount.fstype=ext3 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2008-08-11 12:27:03 state=mounted
*-volume:1
description: Extended partition
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
logical name: /dev/sda2
size: 2204MiB
capacity: 2204MiB
capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
*-logicalvolume
description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
physical id: 5
logical name: /dev/sda5
capacity: 2204MiB
capabilities: nofs
*-cdrom:0
description: DVD reader
product: DVD-ROM GD-5000
vendor: HITACHI
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom1
logical name: /dev/dvd1
logical name: /dev/scd0
logical name: /dev/sr0
version: 0213
capabilities: removable audio dvd
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=open
*-cdrom:1
description: CD-R/CD-RW writer
product: 52MAXX 3252AJ1v2
vendor: Memorex
physical id: 0.1.0
bus info: scsi@1:0.1.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/scd1
logical name: /dev/sr1
version: 2W$3
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=open
*-ide:1
description: IDE interface
product: 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: ide bus_master
configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0 module=ata_piix
*-serial UNCLAIMED
description: SMBus
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: latency=0
*-multimedia
description: Multimedia audio controller
product: 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.5
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.5
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=Intel ICH latency=0 module=snd_intel8x0

[FranMichaels]

An easy way to check:

System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers

If yours looks like this, you can safely run without restricted-modules (been that way for me on my laptop since the last Ubuntu release, where the intel wireless driver no longer needed the restricted module :D)

[LaRoza]

It looks like it will "Intel" anything is a good sign.

[3rdalbum]

He does, although he's been known to charge for them in the past. :)

Is his signature open-source? Are you allowed to copy it, modify it at will, and redistribute it without restriction? :)

[LaRoza]

Is his signature open-source? Are you allowed to copy it, modify it at will, and redistribute it without restriction? :)

Then it wouldn't be a signature.

[Canis familiaris]

I'd want to, just so I could tell him I use Vim.

:lolflag:

[dmn_clown]

It looks like it will "Intel" anything is a good sign.

Intel wireless cards use non-free firmware.
Mesa's GLX still includes non-free code.

[master5o1]

He does, although he's been known to charge for them in the past. :)

http://digg.com/tech_news/Richard_Stallman_Charges_for_Autographs
http://www.linux.com/articles/54012



You mean his signature isn't Free?
Not BY-NC-SA?

[NNNNNNNNNN1515]

Hey good news everybody: It looks like I'm not using any proprietary drivers. So tonight, I say goodbye to restricted modules. Thanks for your help.

[original_jamingrit]

Wow, that's actually pretty cool. Are you doing this Ubuntu as planned, or are you using gnewsense?