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Debian and related distros, such as Ubuntu, usually separate open source and proprietary packages into different repositories. If you only want open-source lice
by zhemao 13y ago
Debian and related distros, such as Ubuntu, usually separate open source and proprietary packages into different repositories. If you only want open-source licensed software, just deselect the proprietary repositories.
Now, the only problem with that is that the Linux kernel itself has some binary blobs, pre-compiled code where the original source code is unknown, so that makes any Linux distro using the standard kernel less than free by the FSF's standards. There is a Linux-libre kernel which replaces all the binary blobs, but so far only a few distros use it.
- steveklabnik 13y agoCool, thanks. I'm currently on Crunchbang, been thinking about switching to stock Debian for exactly this reason. It's been a while since I used it straight-up, and didn't remember it being two sources.
- zhemao 13y agoWait, does Crunchbang not separate free and non-free? I've never used it, but I was under the impression that Crunchbang used mostly packages from the upstream Debian repos. You should just be able to select or deselect sources by editing the /etc/apt/sources.list file.