[Trisquel-users] Freedom versus competence: why I left Trisquel
I was a free software advocate for a few years. I read Stallman's essays and other FSF material, and I jumped at the chance to tell those I knew about the movement. This, unfortunately, turned me into an annoying, pedantic radical to those around me. And it appears to happen to other people in the movement. I wanted to free my computing fully, so I installed Trisquel on my computer. When I first installed it, I botched the installation and lost nearly all my files. I eventually got over that, but one day, out of the blue, my computer lost the ability to resume after suspending. It took a substantial amount of highly technical work to fix it, and I doubt the average user would ever have been able to accomplish it. Another time, again out of the blue, it stopped booting altogether, and again I had to perform fixes that I am sure no average user could accomplish. Not only that, the problem was that the boot program was prompting the user for input on encountering an error, a terrible programming practice. More recently, upgrading to Trisquel 7.0 caused my screen to display psychedelic colours. That problem was unexpectedly solved when I left my laptop on a bus and could not recover it, but after purchasing a new one, I found that Trisquel could not display graphical output or perform network connections at all. All of these things are completely unacceptable for a modern operating system. They caused me great inconvenience and stress and cost me much time. Yet those here would have said that, by staying with Microsoft Windows, I was more oppressed. This brings me to my point. The fundamental purpose of software is to run. It is not to be free and open, it is to run. Software of any license model that does not run, or does not run as the user needs it to run, is useless to the user. Free software that does not or cannot perform the tasks the user needs it to perform is more restrictive than proprietary software that does perform said tasks. To use an analogy, if my car's blueprints are freely available, it can be easily disassembled and reassembled, and its mechanics and manufacturers are responsive to complaints, all of that matters nothing if the car cannot move under its own power. Richard Stallman attempted to answer something similar in his essay Imperfection Is Not Oppression, in which he states: Making a program nonfree is an injustice committed by the developer that denies freedom to whoever uses it. The developer deserves condemnation for this. But by this statement he neglects the following points: (a) proprietary software can do good, too — indeed, most people use proprietary software and complete a great deal of work with it; (b) oppression is only oppression when the oppressed feel that it is; and (c) as I have said, most people do not use or need this freedom that is denied, but simply need their software to run. Stallman also notes that Developing a free program without adding a certain important feature is...doing some good but not all the good that people need. But, again, all the good that people need is for the program to run. If a program cannot perform the tasks that a user requires, it is not doing any good at all for that user. Following Trisquel's utter failure to fulfill my needs, I decided to install Ubuntu. And it worked perfectly, out of the box. I even found that it worked perfectly with the Linux-Libre kernel, and without any proprietary packages installed. I am able to maintain my freedom, even if you don't approve of it. Don't get me wrong. I still see free software as a good thing. But know that you are not entitled to it. It is a bonus, and not a right.
Re: [Trisquel-users] BLAG 200000
I can make some allowances for your machine. But they're not relevant in the face of what I see: the fallback error image, the *dreadful* font rendering, and SeaMonkey as a browser.
Re: [Trisquel-users] BLAG 200000
The first and most fundamental purpose of software is to run. A free program that does not do what the user wants is more restrictive than a proprietary program that does do what the user wants, because the first does not fulfill software's fundamental purpose, while the second does. Freedom is not a fundamental purpose of software. Even if my car's blueprints are freely available, and it is simple to disassemble and reassemble it, **all of that matters nothing if it cannot move under its own power.**
Re: [Trisquel-users] Automatically Installed JavaScript Must Die
If you're going to be that uptight about web freedom, you need to stop browsing the web altogether. Web pages might not be software. But are they not a work of practical use, which according to the FSF should carry the same rights as software? Is it not true that rendering text and UI elements in an aesthetically pleasing way could be considered practical? Even the CSS could be considered a practical work, in a description of how to render aesthetics rather than the actual aesthetics. Yet the vast majority of the web is entirely copyrighted. Only a few sites make their content free. So you need to stop browsing the web, because every site is denying you a fundamental freedom for their works of practical use.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Automatically Installed JavaScript Must Die
Software freedoms apply also to works of practical use. The Web is a work of practical use. Therefore, software freedoms should apply to the Web.
Re: [Trisquel-users] is Debian GNU/Hurd free?
Yeah, I remember that. I know I used to be one of these radicals. But it all changed weeks ago when Belenos caused my laptop to look like it was on an LSD trip, and then I lost my laptop and switched to a newer one. I tried out Ubuntu and realized just how free it was. The Amazon thing? I use Xubuntu, which doesn't come with it. The non-free drivers? I don't have any, verified by vrms. From now on I'm with you, quantumgravity. I always used to be annoyed by you, a sensible person among libertarians. But Ubuntu has brought me back.
Re: [Trisquel-users] is Debian GNU/Hurd free?
Every single proprietary component is a security and privacy risk. That doesn't mean it is actually spying on you. Actually, it almost never means it is spying on you. There are hundreds of thousands of proprietary programs out there. Admittedly we can't easily know that a given program is spying on us, but do you really believe there are so many immoral proprietary developers? I say the security risks are few and far between, because no matter how many examples of proprietary risks you can provide, I can provide infinitely more examples of proprietary software doing what the user wants.
Re: [Trisquel-users] is Debian GNU/Hurd free?
No he doesn't. He does not endorse Debian just because the repository is hosted on many of the project's main servers, and people can readily learn about these nonfree packages by browsing Debian's online package database. He doesn't even want you to tell the user indirectly, that's like saying it's wrong to have the copy of the proprietary typeface I once bought on my hard drive, not installed.
Re: [Trisquel-users] is Debian GNU/Hurd free?
Do you really proprose not allowing the user to load proprietary software? Because that's no better than Apple's App Store.
Re: [Trisquel-users] is Debian GNU/Hurd free?
Sometimes, free software is not enough. Sometimes, you need proprietary software to accompany free software and make it work. Surely a system with mostly free components and a single proprietary component is better than a fully proprietary system. But Mr. Stallman thinks the user should not be told about the option to use the system with only a few non-free components. Not only is this censorship, he is harming his cause.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Automatically Installed JavaScript Must Die
Yeah, your intentions are noble and all, but it's not going to happen. What about dynamically created web pages? Responsive design? Do those not require JavaScript? Yet they are not replaceable by installed software. The web is built on JavaScript, and it is normally used for good and not evil. So, unlike software (and I doubt that free software is ever going to take over), nobody is going to listen to the ramblings of a few radicals.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Why I'm leaving Trisquel
I am typing this from my new Debian installation. Which is COMPLETELY UNUSABLE, because whenever I try to apt-get install anything, I am asked to insert the disk I used to install the system. I installed the system by burning a CD image to a USB drive. So I'm coming back to Trisquel, because anything is better than not being able to install any software. $ lspci | grep VGA 01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series] I'm not sure it's my graphics card. I think it's Trisquel. Under 5.5 I had 3D acceleration and could use Blender. Under 6.0 that disappeared, but the graphics are okay. Now, under 7.0, the graphics are just plain bad.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Dreadful graphics on Trisquel 7
Hmm, looking at this from my new Debian installation, it looks like the screenshot captured everything properly (or rather, didn't, as it doesn't show the way the screen is displaying). Will be back in several hours with a photograph.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Why I'm leaving Trisquel
I have found Debian rather not to my liking, and will be returning to Trisquel 6.0.1 soon. So, false alarm.
[Trisquel-users] Why I'm leaving Trisquel
I am fed up with this system. It's not that I lost all my files the first time I installed Trisquel. Because that was my fault. I took a risk and overwrote the wrong partition while I was migrating from Windows. And I panicked and wasted money on useless HP tech support instead of asking for help for free online. It's not that upgrading from 5.5 Brigantia to 6.0 Toutatis resulted in Blender ceasing to function. I didn't need Blender that much anyways. It's not that I don't like GNU/Linux. I love it. I'm glad I made the change. It's not that one day, out of nowhere, my system stopped booting, unlike any responsible OS should ever do. Because I fixed that. And I made everything fine. I could tolerate it. I am leaving Trisquel because I was so gosh-darned excited about the new release—and upgrading to it left my system in a state that was workable, but with a mangled panel and text/colour rendering problems. Then I downloaded the ISO and reinstalled the system entirely, only to find that it wouldn't boot properly due to encryption—to boot, I had to enter an incorrect username and password in GRUB, and then press enter after boot hung, and then enter the password to encryption. And now, on my freshly installed system, I am experiencing the same colour rendering problems as with the upgraded system. I can't take this anymore. I quit. I might be a programming student, but I need my computer to be at somewhat user friendly. I won't say it's been nothing but trouble since day one, since it's actually computed very well. I will say that the problems are too frequent and often difficult to fix. I still care about free software, so I'm taking my business to Debian now. Goodbye.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Trisquel 7 and new homepage - gratz!!
How do we upgrade from Toutatis, as we upgraded from Brigantia to Toutatis? When I run sudo apt-get dist-upgrade nothing happens.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
It doesn't work! No matter what program I use, PulseAudio Volume Control shows no level of input in the recording tab, and the resulting files are blank.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
This did not work; it resulted in a blank file.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
It does not do the job for me. It results in blank files.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
I knew about selecting Monitor of before I made this post. It does not work. I installed parec. It does not work.
[Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
I want to record whatever audio my computer is playing, and not by microphone. Tried VLC. Was too complicated. Probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Discovered there's an included application for this purpose, gnome-sound-recorder. It was junk. The World Wide Web agrees that it's junk. It did nothing. Installed recordmydesktop and its GUI. Recorded video, but not audio. Discovered that most tutorials said to change the input sound source in the Recording tab of Pavucontrol to Monitor Of. Did. Didn't work. Discovered that you have to change Default to Pulse in the advanced options menu of recordmydesktop. Did so. STILL DIDN'T FREAKING WORK. How in the name of your favourite deity am I supposed to record audio under Trisquel?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Recording audio from my desktop
As I said in my post, I had tried that before posting this and it did not work.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
The relevant line in the Makefile is LIBS = $(SUBLIBS) -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu -lminiupnpc -lrt -LC:/deps/boost/stage/lib -Lc:/deps/db/build_unix -Lc:/deps/ssl -lssl -lcrypto -ldb_cxx -lboost_system-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_filesystem-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_program_options-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_thread-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lQtGui -lQtCore -lpthread Changing all 53s to 48s resulted in the same error.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
This worked; thank you!
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
Yes to all.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
I'm sorry, how do I change the linker flags?
[Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
I'm trying to compile Captcoin, a free software fork of Bitcoin. I installed the dependencies listed in the ReadMe file and got a good way into the compilation, but compilation stops with this error: cd /home/linus/CaptCoin; /bin/sh share/genbuild.sh /home/linus/CaptCoin/build/build.h fatal: Not a git repository (or any parent up to mount parent /home) Stopping at filesystem boundary (GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM not set). g++ -c -m64 -pipe -fstack-protector-all --param ssp-buffer-size=1 -msse2 -w -O2 -fdiagnostics-show-option -Wall -Wextra -Wformat -Wformat-security -Wno-unused-parameter -Wstack-protector -D_REENTRANT -DQT_WEBKIT -DQT_GUI -DBOOST_THREAD_USE_LIB -DBOOST_SPIRIT_THREADSAFE -DBOOST_THREAD_PROVIDES_GENERIC_SHARED_MUTEX_ON_WIN -D__NO_SYSTEM_INCLUDES -DUSE_UPNP=1 -DSTATICLIB -DUSE_IPV6=1 -DHAVE_BUILD_INFO -DLINUX -DQT_NO_DEBUG -DQT_GUI_LIB -DQT_CORE_LIB -DQT_SHARED -I/usr/share/qt4/mkspecs/linux-g++-64 -I/usr/include/qt4/QtCore -I/usr/include/qt4/QtGui -I/usr/include/qt4 -Isrc -Isrc/json -Isrc/qt -IC:/deps/boost -Ic:/deps/db/build_unix -Ic:/deps/ssl/include -Ibuild -Ibuild -o build/main.o src/main.cpp src/main.cpp:18:53: fatal error: boost/random/uniform_int_distribution.hpp: No such file or directory compilation terminated. make: *** [build/main.o] Error 1 The fatal error appears to be due to a missing boost library, but I tried installing both boost random number libraries available in the repositories, and they didn't change a thing.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
Literally right after I posted this I found the fix. I installed the wrong version of Boost; you need 1.48.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Compilation terminates, likely due to missing library
Okay, new problem. I got almost everything compiled with that library, but right when it comes to combining the generated binaries, this happens: g++ -m64 -fstack-protector-all --param ssp-buffer-size=1 -Wl,-O1 -o CAPTcoin-qt build/bitcoin.o build/bitcoingui.o build/transactiontablemodel.o build/addresstablemodel.o build/optionsdialog.o build/sendcoinsdialog.o build/addressbookpage.o build/signverifymessagedialog.o build/aboutdialog.o build/editaddressdialog.o build/bitcoinaddressvalidator.o build/alert.o build/version.o build/sync.o build/util.o build/netbase.o build/key.o build/script.o build/main.o build/init.o build/net.o build/irc.o build/checkpoints.o build/addrman.o build/db.o build/walletdb.o build/clientmodel.o build/guiutil.o build/transactionrecord.o build/optionsmodel.o build/monitoreddatamapper.o build/transactiondesc.o build/transactiondescdialog.o build/bitcoinstrings.o build/bitcoinamountfield.o build/wallet.o build/keystore.o build/transactionfilterproxy.o build/transactionview.o build/walletmodel.o build/bitcoinrpc.o build/rpcdump.o build/rpcnet.o build/rpcmining.o build/rpcwallet.o build/rpcblockchain.o build/rpcrawtransaction.o build/overviewpage.o build/csvmodelwriter.o build/crypter.o build/sendcoinsentry.o build/qvalidatedlineedit.o build/bitcoinunits.o build/qvaluecombobox.o build/askpassphrasedialog.o build/protocol.o build/notificator.o build/qtipcserver.o build/rpcconsole.o build/coincontroldialog.o build/coincontroltreewidget.o build/noui.o build/kernel.o build/scrypt-x86.o build/scrypt-x86_64.o build/scrypt_mine.o build/pbkdf2.o build/moc_bitcoingui.o build/moc_transactiontablemodel.o build/moc_addresstablemodel.o build/moc_optionsdialog.o build/moc_sendcoinsdialog.o build/moc_addressbookpage.o build/moc_signverifymessagedialog.o build/moc_aboutdialog.o build/moc_editaddressdialog.o build/moc_bitcoinaddressvalidator.o build/moc_clientmodel.o build/moc_guiutil.o build/moc_optionsmodel.o build/moc_monitoreddatamapper.o build/moc_transactiondesc.o build/moc_transactiondescdialog.o build/moc_bitcoinamountfield.o build/moc_transactionfilterproxy.o build/moc_transactionview.o build/moc_walletmodel.o build/moc_overviewpage.o build/moc_csvmodelwriter.o build/moc_sendcoinsentry.o build/moc_qvalidatedlineedit.o build/moc_qvaluecombobox.o build/moc_askpassphrasedialog.o build/moc_coincontroldialog.o build/moc_coincontroltreewidget.o build/moc_notificator.o build/moc_rpcconsole.o build/qrc_bitcoin.o -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu -lminiupnpc -lrt -LC:/deps/boost/stage/lib -Lc:/deps/db/build_unix -Lc:/deps/ssl -lssl -lcrypto -ldb_cxx -lboost_system-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_filesystem-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_program_options-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_thread-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lQtGui -lQtCore -lpthread /usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lboost_system-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 /usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lboost_filesystem-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 /usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lboost_program_options-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 /usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lboost_thread-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 collect2: ld returned 1 exit status make: *** [CAPTcoin-qt] Error 1
Re: [Trisquel-users] Need help modifying this program to make it free
Because it's easier. I don't want to code, although I can code; I just want to study chess. I mean, if it's as simple as finding a C++ lzw implementation and a couple of copy and pastes, I can't argue with that. But it's probably a lot easier to delete a single line. I don't think this is a GPL violation, since it's the author who is distributing it, and the author cannot violate the GPL. But it will be distributable if I remove that code, correct?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Need help modifying this program to make it free
I'm going with the deletion strategy. I've just deleted the two non-free files. I can get a good ways into compilation, but then I receive this error from make: make: *** No rule to make target `src/egtb/tbindex.cpp', needed by `src/probe.o'. Stop. I expected an unresolved inclusion, not this. There doesn't seem to be any relevant inclusion in the other files.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Need help modifying this program to make it free
Wait! I looked at the options, and it turns out that there's a very simple solution to all this! After you run ./configure, all you have to do is, on the line TB = -DSCID_USE_TB -DT41_INCLUDE, delete everything after TB = and the non-free code won't be included. Yay!
Re: [Trisquel-users] Bigger texts in Trisquel OS
Use gnome-tweak-tool to adjust font size. You will need to do this as both user and root for it to take effect in applications that you run as root.
[Trisquel-users] Is anyone else experiencing update troubles?
Today I tried to download some updates, but both Synaptic and the graphical Update Manager were unable to connect to the proper server (a 404 not found error). Thinking it might be some server downtime, I changed my software source to es.trisquel.info, and suddenly there were no updates to be installed. What's going on here?
Re: [Trisquel-users] when Trisquel 7 will release ??
Someone said this exact thing when Trisquel 6 was being prepared.
[Trisquel-users] Ruby installation messed up; interpreter doesn't work
I just installed RVM and after a little bit of difficulty I got it working. But I now have a problem. I can still run scripts and individual commands on the command line, but I can't get an interactive shell. The jruby command just waits forever. When I run jirb, a ton of processes called java appear, and although they use a lot of CPU power and memory they don't appear to accomplish anything. When I asked for help elsewhere, it was suggested that I run jruby -rirb -e IRB.start But that spawned about 20 java processes that consumed all the memory on my system, and I had to abort the process. When I run the command jruby -v I get jruby 1.7.2 (1.9.3p327) 2013-01-04 302c706 on OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 1.6.0_30-b30 [linux-amd64] And running rvm info yields: jruby-1.7.2: system: uname: Linux linus-HP-G56-Notebook-PC 3.13.0-gnu #1 SMP Tue Jan 21 16:21:40 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux system: debian/wheezy_sid/x86_64 bash:/bin/bash = GNU bash, version 4.2.25(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) zsh: = not installed rvm: version: rvm 1.25.20 (stable) by Wayne E. Seguin , Michal Papis [https://rvm.io/]; updated: 17 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds ago path: /home/linus/.rvm ruby: interpreter: jruby version: 1.7.2 date: jruby 1.7.2 (1.9.3p327) 2013-01-04 302c706 on OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 1.6.0_30-b30 [linux-amd64] platform: linux-amd64 patchlevel: 1.9.3p327 full_version: jruby 1.7.2 (1.9.3p327) 2013-01-04 302c706 on OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 1.6.0_30-b30 [linux-amd64] homes: gem: /home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2 ruby: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2 binaries: ruby: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/bin/ruby irb: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/bin/irb gem: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/bin/gem rake: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/bin/rake environment: PATH: /home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2/bin:/home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2@global/bin:/home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/bin:/home/linus/.rvm/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/games GEM_HOME: /home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2 GEM_PATH: /home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2:/home/linus/.rvm/gems/jruby-1.7.2@global MY_RUBY_HOME: /home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2 IRBRC:/home/linus/.rvm/rubies/jruby-1.7.2/.irbrc RUBYOPT: gemset:
Re: [Trisquel-users] Ruby installation messed up; interpreter doesn't work
Never mind: both have mysteriously started working again. Please disregard this thread.
[Trisquel-users] Python is leaking a tonne of memory
On a lark, I compiled a Python program with cxfreeze and ran it through Valgrind. I'll let the end of the output speak for itself. What's going on here? Why is this language leaking so much memory? ==15053== HEAP SUMMARY: ==15053== in use at exit: 1,278,276 bytes in 445 blocks ==15053== total heap usage: 2,011 allocs, 1,566 frees, 2,733,473 bytes allocated ==15053== ==15053== LEAK SUMMARY: ==15053==definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==15053==indirectly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==15053== possibly lost: 210,664 bytes in 33 blocks ==15053==still reachable: 1,067,612 bytes in 412 blocks ==15053== suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==15053== Rerun with --leak-check=full to see details of leaked memory ==15053== ==15053== For counts of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -v ==15053== Use --track-origins=yes to see where uninitialised values come from ==15053== ERROR SUMMARY: 227 errors from 38 contexts (suppressed: 2 from 2)
Re: [Trisquel-users] Python is leaking a tonne of memory
And no, the problem isn't with my program. The program is a simple Hello World program, and these errors occur even with the command valgrind python
Re: [Trisquel-users] Valve's Direct3D to OpenGL translation layer is now free software
That is great! We've all been worried that SteamOS is a step in the wrong direction for GNU/Linux, but this shows that it might be exactly the direction we need.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Special characters, for libreoffice, easy way to insert?
You could install xbindkeys from Trisquel's repositories, add it to your startup applications, and then bind some keyboard shortcuts to the diacritics you need.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
I believe nearly everyone else on these forums holds the same viewpoint as in the second quotation.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Say goodbye to NPAPI
Since the Chrome topic is up again: if you don't like the appearance of Firefox, there's a theme to make it look like Chrome, licensed under MPL 1.1. Click here to download. Even if you're okay with the appearance of Firefox this theme is super-cool.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
I can't tell if you're saying we shouldn't do this or we don't need to worry about getting sued, so I'll answer both. If you're saying I shouldn't risk violating their copyrights by doing this, you should head over to pretty much every reverse engineering project in existence and let them know that they need to stop. I checked the instruction manual for my Nexus S, and there's a note saying I may not reverse engineer the proprietary components of it. That is completely unenforceable; it's my device and they have no authority over me. If you get a copy of something, it's your copy, and you should have the freedom to do whatever you want with it. It's the natural extension of the rights we have with physical goods; copyright is an unfair artificial monopoly. If you're saying that we don't need to worry about getting sued, I think we do. But I like fonts enough to think that it's worth it. Just in case, I've asked for legal advice: http://redd.it/1yszn8
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
You can do it losslessly! I happen to have considered this myself, and I've even done it with a few chess fonts. However, I had obtain permission from the creator of one, who had licensed it for non-commercial use only. What you would do is make a drawing in Inkscape using all the font's characters, convert the text to paths, and save that SVG file. This is perfectly legal; some foundries even have an explicit clause You may import characters from the font as graphical objects into a drawing program and modify such graphical objects. Then you would copy those outlines into FontForge (the two programs support copy/pasting to each other). And then you would generate the font. You could analyze the old font's OpenType features in FontForge and recreate them in the new font. This whole process could even be automated. But it would take a not insignificant amount of work, depending on the number of glyphs in the font, and even then I wouldn't guarantee legal safety. I imagine that if we started doing this en masse, the foundries would complain and sue us. Even if we won, they would probably work together to introduce a new DRM-encumbered font format immune to our wizardry.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
It had nothing to do with the laws of Canada. The license restricted commercial use, so I presumed that would apply to the images created with the font. The last the author of FontForge, George Williams, checked, in Canada the design of fonts can be protected for five years. I believe there is also a kind of patent that can be applied to them. However, I am not a lawyer, and cannot make any guarantees about this. If you actually wished to undertake this, it would be best to buy exclusively from American foundries and ensure that any legal issue relating to the typefaces be governed by American law. Even so, the foundries would definitely not like that we're using a loophole in the law to deprive them of income, and they'd at least try to sue. Every proprietary foundry has its own EULA, some more restrictive than others. You know those fonts like Webdings or Wingdings? Symbol fonts? A chess font is like those, but with characters suitable for creating diagrams and figurine notation. With the advent of SVGs and diagram creation programs, that need is nearly obsolete.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Replicant ?
Yes, you can do every one of those things, either built-in or via third-party applications from F-Droid.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
On the contrary, most proprietary foundries now offer web embedding. However, now that I think about it, I think it's more like a video game with a free engine but proprietary art. You can always use the CSS rules to find the font file and copy it, and then use FontForge to convert it to a font suitable for desktop use. Would I be correct in this assertion?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Your thoughts on Firefox to have ads in the browser
If there's going to be a future clause to the Firefox licensing where deriatives will have to use the ad code or else they won't allow you to use your code, that would make Firefox non-free software, because that's a restriction on modifications. I'm not too concerned by this advertising, given that I don't use the default New Tab page, but an add-on.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Your thoughts on Firefox to have ads in the browser
I pretty much never click on advertisements, either. But the truth of the matter is, running websites costs money. You can rely on user donations (usually unfeasible), make it into a subscription service, or you can advertise. For this reason, I disable blocking advertisements on any site that asks me to.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
Given that fonts are software, should I disable websites' ability to use font embedding, in case they use non-free fonts?
Re: [Trisquel-users] UK government switches to OpenDocument
Debian can be fully free, as long as you don't enable the non-free repositories.
[Trisquel-users] Memory issues
When my computer first boots, it's using about 250 MB of memory. Then my daily backup starts automatically, making memory use soar until the backup is complete. But once it's complete, about 500 MB of memory are in use with no applications running. The system monitor reveals that the backup process is still running (can I safely end it?), but it's not using enough memory to make a difference. On top of that, the amount of memory shown in use by the system monitor's list of processes is nowhere near the amount shown to be the total in use by the Resources tab.
Re: [Trisquel-users] GNU Hurd/ advantages
According to Wikipedia, it's not fully developed yet. The Hurd followed an ambitious design which proved unexpectedly difficult to implement and has only been marginally usable. (source)
Re: [Trisquel-users] Connecting a Lego Mindstorms NXT brick via Bluetooth
I have no other Bluetooth devices to test, and the Windows computer connected using the the same Bluetooth transmitter that I'm using. I'm using MonoDevelop and the C# MonoBrick communication library. Throughout the site, the author encourages sharing and adaptation.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Trouble with sound
What am I supposed to be seeing here?
[Trisquel-users] Connecting a Lego Mindstorms NXT brick via Bluetooth
I'm trying to connect a Lego Mindstorms NXT brick to my computer with Bluetooth. Windows computers I've tested can see and connect to the brick just fine, so it doesn't seem to be a problem with the brick or the Bluetooth transmitter. When I plug the transmitter in, a setup icon with the Bluetooth logo appears on the panel. If I click it, there is an option to set up a new device. And the computer can see the brick—it shows up in the list of devices. But when I try to establish a connection (even with the PIN set to the correct 1234), I am asked to enter a PIN on the brick. This is impossible; the brick has no input methods for entering a PIN. So, how can I get this thing to work with free software?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Trouble with sound
I know this is an old thread, but I'm resurrecting it because my sound has just stopped working again, and this time neither rebooting nor restarting pulseaudio fixes it. I installed pavucontrol, but it told me nothing.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
HEEELP! I removed all of the other kernels I had and reinstalled the working 3.2.0-38 one. But when I rebooted into GRUB, I couldn't edit the boot options. I booted anyways. My system is now unbootable!
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
Where am I supposed to enter that command? Pressing c in GRUB requires the username and password, and on the live CD (from which I'm posting this) I get permission denied for that file.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
I proudly post this from my freshly booted system! Your explanation of how to find the password, combined with help from the users here, allowed me to boot correctly.
Re: [Trisquel-users] XFCE—Change text colour of panel
There's a setting there for the background, but not the text. In any case, I got it solved elsewhere. You can install GTK-Theme-Config using the instructions on this page.
[Trisquel-users] I deleted Courier 10 Pitch, and broke FontForge
I no longer want the font Courier 10 Pitch, so I opened a file manager as root and deleted it from /usr/share/fonts. But now when I try to open a font in FontForge, the window briefly appears and then quits. When I went to the terminal from which I'd run gksu thunar, I noticed several messages like this: Help! Server claimed font -bitstream-courier 10 pitch-medium-r-normal--16-0-0-0-m-0-iso10646-1 existed in the font list, but when I asked for it there was nothing. I may crash soon. Segmentation fault How can I fix this? Where in the system is this command given, so that I can prevent this crash from occurring.
Re: [Trisquel-users] I deleted Courier 10 Pitch, and broke FontForge
I think I figured it out. There's a file /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/fonts.dir. You need to edit this file, remove all the lines referring to Courier, and change the number at the top to the number of lines in the file minus one. It's not working yet, but I'll reboot and see if that's still the case.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
If it's relevant, I installed a new kernel image today and it output this: cryptsetup: WARNING: found more than one resume device candidate: cryptswap1 eef1f80a-4268-4214-bc95-2adbdedb9ef3
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
Perhaps this could be fixed simply by installing a later kernel—I recently reinstalled Trisquel, and have gone from a 3.8 to a 3.2. How do I do this? I added jxself's repositories using the instructions on his site, but I can't figure out how to install the kernel.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
Installing the new kernel didn't work. And I can't even edit its boot options; if I press e it simply asks for a username and password, and then returns to the main screen. I took a picture of the output without the quiet splash for 3.2.0-57, and it is attached. I can see part of the problem—it's prompting me for input! You should never do that in programming; raise an error and let the calling code handle it. But even worse, when I press Enter or even enter a path name, nothing happens.
[Trisquel-users] XFCE—Change text colour of panel
How can I change the colour of the panel text in XFCE? I suspected it was somewhere in /usr/share/themes, but couldn't find anything there.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
BUMP! This is a serious problem.
[Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
If I boot or reboot my laptop, a Trisquel animation logo appears, but does not go away, no matter how long I wait. I have to force it off with the power button. When I boot again, a GRUB interface with a Debian background appears, and asks me if I want to boot a 3.2.0-57 kernel, or Previous Linux versions. Choosing the immediate option leads to the same boot problem on a black Trisquel 6.0 screen with the four blue/white dots. But choosing Previous Linux versions boots the computer correctly. I'm installing a new kernel version to see if this fixes the problem, but I'll post again if it doesn't.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Computer not booting properly
How exactly do I edit the grub line?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Cannot reinstall XFCE due to broken packages
It's been an eventful day. I backed up my home folder (which contains gigabytes of data due to my involvement with the Replicant project) and reinstalled the system. I used text mode, but this booted into a textual environment, and even after installing XFCE nothing worked. So I reinstalled graphically, and got the system working. But the backup sure is taking a long time to do anything...and I'm concerned I might have to reinstall due to a failed attempt at installing XFCE without running sudo apt-get update. I backed up the most important of my files in a second foolproof location, so they're okay. But I really hope the backup starts to respond.
[Trisquel-users] Cannot reinstall XFCE due to broken packages
I just tried out XFCE and loved its customizability. But when I tried to add Compiz to enable window tiling, I lost all capabilities of a window manager. I was unable to close or move windows I opened; there were no minimize, maximize, close buttons on the top corner. I removed the xfce4 package and all its dependencies, and reinstalled them. But now my attempts to reinstall lead to broken packages. I am receiving this error: E: /var/cache/apt/archives/xfce4-session_4.10.1-0ubuntu1~ppa0.12.04.1_amd64.deb: trying to overwrite '/etc/xdg/autostart/xscreensaver.desktop', which is also in package trisquel-desktop-common-data 6.0-6
Re: [Trisquel-users] Cannot reinstall XFCE due to broken packages
That did not work. I received an error that there was no such source package or build dependencies for it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Novena - The free notebook
I think this was posted in the forums before, and it was found to require proprietary software for the Wi-Fi to work. And I'm pretty sure it won't use coreboot.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Libre fonts I've found
New libre font! Gaspar is a condensed slab serif typeface, with only a few true italic shapes. I found it on FontSquirrel, and it is under the OFL.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
My question was to add arguments to make up my mind to decide whether they are software or not. I believe that means I was asking philosophically. I haven't really been following the discussion since I was convinced (fonts are works of practical use and need to carry the freedoms of software), so I can't say much else.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Free Clarendon!
You can never be sure of that when purchasing something over the Internet. But I'm not exactly flying to Toronto to perform the exchange in person; if I were, I would have asked for a lot more. I don't believe they own the patent; that expired long ago. In our paper communications, they told me that they asked a $30,000 price based on custom work they'd done in the past. For that price, they allowed the buyer to do whatever they want with the font for an unlimited period. Comparatively, Canada Type is already a very liberal foundry in their licensing. The only thing keeping their license from being a free software license is the restriction on distribution.
Re: [Trisquel-users] New User Problems
If you can mount the Windows partition of your hard drive from Trisquel, you should recover all your files from it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Trisquel lags when playing videos and video games, sometimes freezes
Your comment is blank again.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Free Clarendon!
The way copyright works in the U.S... I'm Canadian, buying from a Canadian foundry.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Free Clarendon!
Bump! We're really lagging in donations, and can't do this without your help.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
It's my campaign. I heard of Indiegogo before I'd heard of Kickstarter, and I like Indiegogo's site layout better.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Changing system fonts (especially monospace)
I figured it out. There should be a file (more accurately, a link to a file) /etc/fonts/conf.d/01-trisquel.conf. You will need to edit this file to include the names of your chosen fonts as highest priority (above the existing family entries).
[Trisquel-users] Are fonts software?
This question came to my mind while I was discussing my Free Clarendon campaign with someone else. When I claimed that fonts are software, because they are a program designed to draw the outlines, he countered with a powerful point. If a font is a program created to draw outlines, and therefore is a software program that must be free, then what differentiates a font file from a .ogg audio file, or a .jpg image? Would they not be software, too? At first I scoffed, but it really got me thinking. A font file (.ttf or .otf) is a set of numbers that describe outlines. The system's font-rendering program reads those numbers, draws the outlines accordingly, and creates a rasterized version of the outlines. That rasterized image is then displayed to the screen. At no point in that process are the fonts executed. Fonts aren't even executable! Why, then, are they considered software? Why are they not considered an aggregate of vector images?
[Trisquel-users] Free Clarendon!
Remember this thread about setting proprietary typefaces free? And then this thread? It's finally happening! My campaign to turn one of the greatest typefaces of all time into free software is up and live! I aim to collect Canada Type's fee of $30,000 (I've set the goal higher for the sake of fees) by January 31, 2014. You can see the campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/free-clarendon/x/5670931. All contributions are welcomed. Please try to spread this to other free software venues, and anyone else you might know!
Re: [Trisquel-users] Free Clarendon!
It's one of the oldest and most popular typefaces that survive today. That's why I chose it over Canada Type's other possibility, Informa Pro.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Considering Trisquel. I Have Questions
To change your UI fonts, you can go to Trisquel Menu → System Settings, select Advanced Settings, on the side menu select Fonts, and click on the setting for Default Font. You should be able to change your font size system-wide.
Re: [Trisquel-users] I bought a Replicant/Cyanogenmod-incompatible Android phone.
Replicant's minimum criteria for a new port are: * The device must be supported by CyanogenMod * Its network type must be GSM and not CDMA (true of this device) * There must be a way to flash images to the device using a free program (Samsung devices have a dedicated program, Heimdall, for this purpose) More accurately, installing images on the device must not require running any non-free software on the host computer. We can run anything necessary on the device, since it will be erased during installation. For example, one of our upcoming targets, the LG Optimus L9, must be upgraded to Android 4.2 Jellybean before you can install Replicant on it. * The kernel must not be signed; the bootloader must not check the kernel's signature. If this is the case, the device won't boot anything but a signed kernel from the manufacturer. Samsung devices are generally safe for this. * The kernel source code must have been released. It does not look like this device has a release yet, but Samsung is legally obligated to provide a copy if we ask, because the kernel is under GPLv2. * The device's processor must not be Qualcomm (these devices have bad hardware design where the modem can access many hardware features and spy on the user, and they also require a high number of blobs) or Nvidia Tegra 2 (found to have unusably slow graphics under Replicant). Your device's processor is an ARM Cortex.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Coreboot for my laptop
It looks like your laptop is supported! http://www.coreboot.org/Chromebooks
Re: [Trisquel-users] Changing system fonts (especially monospace)
Bump!
Re: [Trisquel-users] I bought a Replicant/Cyanogenmod-incompatible Android phone.
Replicant developer (more accurately, someone allowed to call myself one) here. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S and Star are not the same device. If you want Replicant support for the device, it needs to have CyanogenMod support first. But the existing CyanogenMod developers don't take device requests. You can try a port yourself by looking at their porting guide. The good news is, this device actually looks it would be a good target for Replicant if there were CyanogenMod support. I'll have to ask Paul the lead developer about that. Finally, you should know that the Replicant project itself has forums for questions like these! See http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/boards.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Merry Grav-mass!
But it is propagated by Richard Stallman as an attempt to avoid celebrating the Christian holiday Christmas.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Libre fonts I've found
This video is not available. Sorry about that.
Re: [Trisquel-users] vPro full support is coming to linux
I thought vPro was already OS-independent?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Merry Grav-mass!
This should really be marked [OT]. Grav-mass is an atheistic movement and not a software-related one, and is therefore not suitable for these forums.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Can I use Brackets in Trisquel GNU/Linux ?
Don't give users terminal commands if there's a graphical way to do it. Go to Add/Remove Applications, find and install GDebi, download the Brackets .deb from their website, double-click it, and click Install Package.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Can I use Brackets in Trisquel GNU/Linux ?
To the OP, please don't use the term open-source. Free software is correct. I downloaded and installed Brackets. Right now it's usable, but by no means fully-featured. The live preview feature only works if you have Google Chrome installed, there's no way to change preferences (indentation style appears to be the only one, but no font changes), and it doesn't have a desktop icon. Not to mention that it blanket-recommends hundreds of extensions which may or may not be free. (I tested five and found that two had no license.) I do not recommend using this software until a later stage of development.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Libre fonts I've found
New libre font! It looks like I caught this one within seconds of its upload on FontSquirrel; right now it has only 2 downloads! The font is called Clear Sans, and it was developed by Intel. It is licensed under the Apache License. Click here to download it.
[Trisquel-users] Changing system fonts (especially monospace)
By default, Trisquel's monospace font is DejaVu Sans Mono. I partially changed it to Source Code Pro a while ago (a method I've since lost) and now I'd like to change it to Cousine. Using the graphical settings menu and gsettings, I've changed most of the system monospaced fonts to Cousine. However, this hasn't had full effect. I'm still typing this post in Source Code Pro, and once in a while DejaVu Sans Mono still appears. So how can I change these fonts system-wide?
