I have a thinkpad lying around. I have used Linux over the last 5 years and I an NOT a power user. I use Mint and it gets the job done for me.
Lately though, the whole libre software bug bit me and I want at least one machine that is libre compatible through and through. I have heard some stuff like Parabola and GNUIX or something like that, but thought it best to ask around first before even thinking about something like this.
My work essentially involves writing documents (LaTeX and LibreOffice), doing statistical analysis, and making lectures. I access emails via Thunderbird. That’s it.
Does anyone here daily drive a fully libre laptop?
When exploring the libre distributions recommended by GNU.org or broader FOSS communities, I find myself questioning whether being „blob-free" is truly enough. Some suggested distributions - such as Guix - host their code on GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft.
Similarly, systemd is maintained by Red Hat, a company closely tied to IBM and known to collaborate with Microsoft. It’s used in distributions like Parabola and Trisquel. This raises concerns about centralization and corporate influence, which makes me wonder whether these choices truly align with the spirit of software freedom.
That said, maybe I’m misunderstanding what „libre“ fully entails.
If you do not want to use software written by Red Hat, you have to stop using Linux. Quite frankly also much of the GNU suite such as Glibc and GCC. You would absolutely have to stop using either Xorg or Wayland. Systemd is just an example of something Red Hat created but they are massive contributors to a lot of other surf too.
I you want to avoid software written by profit motivated companies, you are down to about 15% of the open source ecosystem.
This is misleading. While Red Hat contributes significantly to Linux and some open source projects, they did not create the Linux kernel, GCC, or glibc - those are GNU or community projects. You can absolutely use Linux without Red Hat software, especially with distros like Alpine, Gentoo, or Guix. Red Hat is influential, but not essential.
Guix is currently migrating to Codeberg.
Thanks for the awesome news! I really hope more distros follow that move - more independence means more real freedom.
Yes, Trisquel GNU/Linux on 2 laptops, a desktop, and a HTPC. I’ve been using Trisquel for 15 years(since Awen release), after running Debian with non-free disabled for a while.
The laptops are Thinkpads from minifree.org which provides libreboot and ensures compatibility with libre firmwares.
Trisquel is Ubuntu, with all the non-free software and binary blob firmware removed. Hardware that does not have a fully free driver will not work.
It is an easy install, rock solid when using, and has a knowledgeable and helpful community.
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The other libre distros I think about checking one day are Guix or Parabola. https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.en.html
I recommend everyone to have at least one fully free distro installed, just to experience what the original vision of libre computing is.
Yeah like other people mentioned, guix is great but in terms of how it works it’s pretty much a libre lisp version of Nix, so you have to actually be interested in that type of system where you configure everything declaritively through a programming language. I personally use NixOS because i’m not really into the libre stuff, but i really love this way of configuring my system, but be prepared to spend months on learning and configuring depending on how far you want to take it. I don’t know much about parabola, but if i’m not mistaken i thought it was similar to arch but libre, so it might be a better fit if you just want to use a more traditional linux distro that is also libre.
Guix is a great and modern Operating system, where most things are thought through in the FLOSS (free libre open source software) spirit. but besides the installer, you will get your hands dirty in the terminal, with a little Scheme coding (configs are in Scheme (a Lisp like language (that uses an insane amount of ()'s (!!)))) - imagine that. Anyway, standard Guix doesn’t come with proprietary drivers, so you’ll have to add the non-guix repository (gitlab/github) for many wifi drivers. Not quite as easy as other Distros, but doable if you take small steps and copy&paste your first configurations.
I use Flatpak’s to enhance the software selection, installing from git/pypi and others is also possible.
ONE anecdotal downside is that I have experienced a few machines where the installer fails, and I have to do it manually. Doable, but it does require a little nerdyness to fix.
All Guix experts have apparently mind-melded with Emacs, and are nerdy compared to normal users ! The main focus is not on UX, but its a cool environment if you become interested in the inner workings of the system, or any of the nerd tool (LaTeX is a Classic, so you are almost there ;-).
If that all gets to hairy, you could try out https://www.pantherx.org/ that are a guix based distribution. I think they have enabled non-free firmware by default, and you get a nice® desktop experience out of the box, so there’s that. I haven’t tried it yet, tho.
Guix is both very advanced under the hood (where all the lovelyness happens), very stable, and very FLOSS, but for doing light work only, you might overshoot on raw Guix. PantherX is likely easier, but you’ll perhaps have to live with a few proprietary blobs (closed source drivers) in the kernel.
I’m tired, sorry for errors…
A coworker who’s a quarter of a century younger than me is well on the way towards that ideal. Libreboot and all. I caught the bug and decided to start with Guix on my home server, but it turns out a Mac Mini is not the platform to go fully libre with XD The itch does persist…
If by GNUIX you mean GNU Guix, they yeah it’s good enough. I’ve tried it on real hardware and didn’t find any issues. I would consider switching to it, but my day job is Nix-related so I’m running NixOS to make things easier. The learning curve is really steep for both Guix and Nix but I think their approach is great in the long term and worth investing some time into.
To be |TRUE| you’ll need some hardware that is mostly open. I believe the Asus C201p is quite close.
I am toying with the idea of getting this…
Can someone clue me in to why Mint wouldn’t be “libre”? What does “libre” mean in this context exactly?
Damn, that’s a high bar to clear. Almost none of the distros I know pass their criteria
Even those distros are only possible if you arbitrarily decide the firmware is not software. If you want to be more honest about having free software all way down, you have to avoid AMD and Intel CPUs at the very least and most GPUs too. And, if you are not going to do that, why fuss about the BIOS?
Unless you are using a totally Free Software stack on on Open Source CPU with an Open Source ISA, it is just a question of where you draw the line between convenience and “principles”.
There are truly Open Source RISC-V CPUs. It could be done. That is not what those “libre” distros are doing.
Since none of us are using a 100% free stack, I think distros like Debian strike the right balance between “free” and “useful”.
Fr but ig it’s rms philosophy :P
Preventing in any way to make work modern firmware for any modern devices which dynamically loading from ur disk ,and prevent installing closed source software too ,they blocked even electron framework need to work for software like freetube for example.
I’m not trying to be mean, but I didn’t really understand much of that. Can you translate from your native language on DeepL or something?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux-libre
It’s essentially a kernel with only open source code. OP would need to research all of the hardware in their machine to ensure that there are open source drivers. I think there are some laptop manufacturers that sell units which are compatible, if you’re ordering from one of the major manufacturers then you’ll likely have some hardware (like wifi) that requires proprietary binaries.
The hardest part is usually finding a machine that has open source drivers for every component. You may have to do some kernel compiling and other low level tasks to get your specific setup to work. OP says they’re not a power user, but after this they will be
I recommend Debian Linux.
